Mamelodi Sundowns co-head coach Manqoba Mngqithi has given some insight into the absence of marquee signing Lesedi Kapinga.
The former Black Leopards attacker joined Mamelodi Sundowns towards the latter part of the 2019/20 PSL campaign however, he’s yet to feature for Masandawana after three games this season.
Manqoba Mngqithi did not mince his words when asked regarding Lesedi Kapinga with the Mamelodi Sundowns coach claiming the skillful player is nowhere close to being ready to take to the field in a Masandawana jersey.
Kapinga not good for Mamelodi Sundowns for now – Mngqithi
Mamelodi Sundowns played out to a frustrating goalless draw against Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila on Wednesday night. The Brazilians registered just a solitary shot on target and many fans were left calling for the inclusion of Kapinga given their lack of creativity in the side.
Manqoba Mngqithi has since shed some light regarding the attackers availability claiming he hasn’t been missing from the squad due to injury but rather, he’s unable to make the matchday squad at Chloorkop for now.
“Lesedi Kapinga is not injured, he’s still trying very hard to adapt to the conditions at Mamelodi Sundowns. He’s a very good player offensively but he still had a lot of work to do defensively.” Mngqithi told SAFJA.
“At Mamelodi Sundowns unfortunately we expect every player to help the team when we don’t have the ball. We work very hard to try and regain the ball and that’s one of the biggest aspects of his game that he has to improve on.
“He’s also not taking very good care of the ball. He loses possession cheaply. Here at a big team like Mamelodi Sundowns when you lose the ball like that we are exposed to counter-attacks.
“He has to really improve. He’s a good player we know that but there’s still a big amount of work that he has to do before he can really command a starting position or even a substitute position right now.”
We deserved a penalty – Mngqithi
Mngqithi believed that Mamelodi Sundowns were supposed to get a penalty after Keletso Makgalwa was brought down inside the box by Alfred Ndengane towards the end of their 0-0 draw against Tshakhuma.
“But I still believe that was a clear penalty. We have not received any update on Keletso Makgalwa but it was a result of that challenge that was supposed to be a penalty, in my own opinion.” Mngqithi said as quoted by Kickoff.
“I have not even looked at the video yet but from what I saw I believe that was a very clear penalty, unfortunately players lose their careers, they get seriously damaged based on injuries like those that are not taken seriously by the match officials at times.”
Mamelodi Sundowns next turn their attention to Cape Town City who they face in Cape Town on next week Wednesday.
