Mamelodi Sundowns midfielder, Neo Maena, believes that his teammates do not need motivation when they take on Orlando Pirates.
The midfielder has been one of the best players in the Sundowns team playing 17 league matches netting scoring five times.
“When it comes to the title race, it’s more about bettering our previous season’s points and not looking at what the other teams are saying,” the player told Sundownsfc.co.za.
“We are taking it one game at a time and we are making sure that we accumulate as many points as we did and maybe even more than last season.”
“We know that we are playing a big game [and] no one needs motivation when it comes to such games.
But I’m expecting them to come more because they’ve also gotten into their confidence and into gelling their players. I think we can expect a very difficult match and a highly motivated team.
“Pirates are going to come the same way that they came in the first fixture that we played against them, but now they are a bit more different because they used to play three at the back and now they are playing with four.
I think they are going to be very motivated, but I think some of their game models haven’t changed much. They are very dangerous on the counter and those are the things we are going to expect from them.”
Sundowns are on top of the table with 52 points and need 15 points to be crowned this season’s champions. The 27-year-old has urges Sundowns supporters to come out in numbers.
“One thing about Pirates is that the supporters are going to be behind them because they are playing at home.
It’s not going to be foreign for them to try and come at us and try to get more numbers upfront because they are playing on their home ground.
It won’t be a surprise to actually see them come at us, but we have our own goals and processes, we know how to guard against such and we just can’t wait for the game on the weekend.”
“To the Mamelodi Sundowns supporters, we are asking you to come and watch the game and support us as usual, we will be expecting you all in the stands.”