He knows us very well, but football is played on the pitch, Mokwena on Sundowns' first tie against Komphela

Rulani Mokwena is expecting "a difficult match" against a Moroka Swallows side coached by his former assistant at Mamelodi Sundowns, Steve Komphela.

The two sides will meet in the MTN8 quarterfinal clash at Pretoria's Lucas Moripe Stadium on Saturday, where Komphela will face his former side for the first time since joining the Dube Birds during the off-season.

"No, no it's another game, a difficult one. We'll see. A difficult team with some good players for sure," Mokwena said of what he expects from Komphela's charges.

"A potent striking force with a lot of different options. Their strikers can be aggressive with (Gabadinho) Mhango, (Tshegofatso) Mabasa and (Kagiso) Malinga supported by (Tshediso) Patjie.

"You've got possibilities of even going a little bit aggressive like they did against Cape Town City (on Wednesday) with (Andile) Jali and Neverdie (Ntsako). Strong double pivot (in the middle) with (Lantshene) Phalane. They can even play (Tlakusani) Mthethwa with AJ (Jali).

"So it's a good team with a lot of quality, and they can do a lot of different things. Strong team with good players and we have to make sure we're well prepared for what is going to be a difficult encounter.

"He (Komphela) knows us very well, but football is played on the pitch," said Mokwena.

"The game belongs to the players. At the end of the day, for the 90 minutes, [we] have to do the best that [we] can to impose ourselves, to try to get some of the pictures out. Hopefully we do that well enough to give ourselves a chance to win the game."

Mokwena said he was impressed with how Sundowns have started the 2023-2024 campaign, beating Sekhukhune United and Kaizer Chiefs in their first two league encounters.

He singled out the club's Chilean midfielder Marcelo Allende as a player he thought deserved to receive a man-of-the-match award in at least one of the two matches. 

"I'm very proud of the group, proud of the efforts they've put in. They've been outstanding. To be honest with you, I'm very surprised that, really it boggles my mind, how a player like Marcelo (Allende) doesn't have a man-of-the-match award," he said.

"I don't even know what more Marcelo Allende must do to be recognised for his contribution in the group. Before I even speak about Lucas Ribeiro Costa, Lucas still has to adapt and we're giving him space and time to be able to do that.

"He's got xG (expected goals) of four in him and this is incredible for a player. But OK, it's still early days and two games. 

"But I don't think these players are appreciated enough for the type of football they play and the incredible contribution they make to try to uplift the standard of SA football. The case for that is Marcelo Allende.

"I don't know what more this incredible footballer has to do to get the recognition he deserves. I really thought Marcelo was a cut above the rest (in Sundowns first two league games)."