Pitso frustrated by injury list

Cape Town - Mamelodi Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane admits he cannot be unhappy with taking a point off Orlando Pirates, but felt his side's lengthy injury list made a big difference on the day.

READ: Pirates, Sundowns share spoils

The reigning Premiership champions looked set to further compound a miserable week for the Buccaneers, who entered the match on the back of successive defeats, as Khama Billiat gave the Brazilians the lead after five minutes at the Orlando Stadium.

However, Pirates were able to claw their way back through Lennox Bacela. The forward fired home the equaliser shortly before the half-hour mark following a goal-mouth scramble, and the score would remain that way until the final whistle.

The match was by no means without its chances, though, and only some woeful finishing and stunning saves from ‘Downs goalkeeper, Kennedy Mweene, prevented either side from adding to their tallies. Sundowns efforts were severely hampered as Thabo Nthethe needed to come off in the first-half with bruised ribs - an ailment the defender was suffering from even before the equaliser went in.

The centre-back has now joined a very lengthy casualty list for the Tshwane giants, and that is something Mosimane feels is playing a big role in his side's inconsistency this term.

"Thabo had bruised ribs. He said he could have saved the goal that came but he couldn't move fast because of the pain. It's one of those things, it's professional football," said Mosimane after the game.

"We have got a lot of injuries; a lot of our guys are injured. Langa (Tebogo Langerman) is inured; Mario Booysen is injured; now we've lost Thabo [Nthethe].

"Alje [Schut]; I'm forcing him to play with a knee [problem], that's not right. [Elias] Pelembe is still injured, Ejike [Uzoenyi] is injured, but we have to keep going."

Looking back over the encounter, the coach added: "What can I say? Difficult game, two good teams, missed opportunities.

"To be honest, they (Pirates) had more clear chances to score than us, but we were also dangerous on the break.

"We can never be unhappy to get a draw when we come here. We tried to play, we tried to win. We didn't come to Orlando Stadium to sit back."