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Preview: Platinum Stars v Mamelodi Sundowns

Cape Town - Platinum Stars and Mamelodi Sundowns return to domestic league action on Tuesday in Rustenburg after their exploits in African competition last weekend.

Platinum Stars secured a 2-0 aggregate win over Mozambique club Songo in the CAF Confederation Cup with a 1-0 away win on Saturday to book their spot in the first round.

They will now be looking for a positive result against Downs in order to move clear of the relegation zone - the North West team are currently only one position and two points above 15th placed Highlands Park.

Sundowns meanwhile beat DRC giants TP Mazembe 1-0 at Loftus on Saturday to add the CAF Super Cup to their Champions League trophy.

They go into the encounter in Rustenburg fifth on the table, seven points behind pace-setters Kaizer Chiefs, but with six games in hand on Amakhosi.

Stars have drawn all of their last four league encounters after beating Cape Town City 4-0 in December. Before that, they had lost the previous four matches, making it just one win in nine for Dikwena.

Sundowns were held to a 1-1 draw by Chippa United last week, but have won eight of their last 10 league outings.

Making Brazilians coach Pitso Mosimane's task of handling a hectic fixture schedule a little easier is the fact that his side has enjoyed just about a clean bill of health in the last month or so.

Dikwena have gone five games and two-and-a-half years in all competitions without beating Sundowns, but hold a good overall record with 12 wins, 11 defeats and nine draws.

Their coach, Cavin Johnson, is also enjoying a fully-fit squad at the moment, although Namibian striker Henrico Botes will miss out on the game while serving a one-match suspension.

Stars defender Vuyo Mere will be facing one of his former clubs in Sundowns and says that Dikwena should respect the Tshwane team, but not fear them.

"We all know about the capabilities of Sundowns. We are not going to talk about their achievements. We know they are a good side with a good coach. We are looking forward to a tough game but we are also a good side," he told the Stars website.

"We are going to take the positives out of the (CAF Cup) game we played in Mozambique. We can't give Sundowns too much respect. If we do that we are going to put ourselves under a lot of pressure.

"They are African champions but on the night it's 11 versus 11. I hope the guys are ready."

Kick off is at 19:30.

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