Cardoso unsure of new signing Mothiba making Sundowns debut

Photo Credit - Mamelodi Sundowns Media.

Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso refused to commit to whether new signing Lebo Mothiba will debut for the South African giants before the current season comes to an end.

The former Strasbourg striker has not played an official match since December 2023.

“I really hope so because Mothiba is a quality player, high quality player that comes from a long period of absence, of no competition, a big injury and a long period of recovery,” Cardoso said as quoted by SABC Sports.

“Since he joined, he had small setbacks but small which had nothing to do with an injury he had but trying to get conditioned and his muscles responding. It's a player that we need to treat like a crystal, very carefully but we are willing to do it, a lot.

“He's a wonderful person and human being and we are happy to have him among us but we need to give him all the conditions so he can recover and help us in the future. I still have expectations that he can play for us before the end of the championship.”

Cardoso continued: “This week or yesterday, the players that were not with us made a joint training session with the Diski team and he played in a two times 20 minutes, he played 15 minutes in that match, without conditioning.

“We are patient, he's patient. We are also anxious, he's also anxious but we know what we have to do and we are gonna do it together so that he can join us in the future.”

After beating Richards Bay 3-0, Sundowns will return to action against Chippa United at Loftus Versfeld Stadium on Wednesday.