Pitso preparing to 'limp to the finish line'

Johannesburg - Despite a fatigue-hit squad and numerous injury concerns, Mamelodi Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane is optimistic his side can defend their league title.

After going five league matches without victory, the Brazilians recorded consecutive wins over SuperSport United (5-0) and Free State Stars (1-0) last week to reignite their title challenge.

The six points earned took Sundowns to 41 points from 21 matches, four points less than leaders Cape Town City, who have played two more games.

The Pretoria side though have barely had a break in the last two years, due to their participation in the CAF Champions League, which they won in 2016.

With more Champions League commitments to come from May onwards, and with a heavy domestic schedule ahead, Mosimane knows his men will have to dig deep.

As such, he was more than pleased with the somewhat scrappy victory over Stars in Orkney on Sunday.

"At this point in time, it’s a game of one goal to win," Mosimane said.

"It's not a game of five goals or six. You got to take what's on the table and what was on the table was one goal and three points.

"We tried to score, especially with set pieces. [Stars keeper] Thela (Ngobeni) didn't want us to score. The goal post didn’t want us to score, but we were a little bit tired. The sun and also the heavy legs," he explained.

"The last 20 or 30 minutes you could see, we were not there. We just soaked up the pressure and dragged the game until it finished."

The former Bafana coach says he'll have to try and manage his weary charges in order to help them overcome niggling and more serious injuries.

"Khama (Billiat) has got tight hamstrings, Thapelo (Morena) has tight hamstrings, Percy (Tau) has got two tight hamstrings," he continued.

"So, it's our life, we just got to manage them and try and stay away from training sessions and play the next game.

"The load is a bit heavy, I must tell you. We are feeling it but we are mentally strong and we want to win the games. If you are mentally strong and want to win the game, that's important, then you can win the game.

"We'll limp to the finish line as long as we can score one or two, it's okay," he added.