Mamelodi Sundowns coach Rulani Mokwena has explained a new rule at the club regarding injuries, after he went into detail to reveal why Rushine De Reuck was taken off at half-time against SuperSport United on Wednesday night.
De Reuck played the first 45 minutes in Sundowns' 2-0 victory over Matsatsantsa, but did not return for the second half. Khuliso Mudau was introduced in his place, as Sundowns changed their tactics a bit with the change.
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Mokwena has revealed that the players now have to speak up when they feel the smallest amount of pain, to ensure they avoid adding onto their already long injury list. So, De Reuck's exit from the game was a precaution as Mokwena wants to have as many players as possible to deal with the hectic December period, which will see them playing in the PSL and the CAF Champions League group stages.
"Why did I take Rush (De Reuck) off? Because it's just precautionary, him and Thaps (Thapelo Morena). They felt a little bit of a niggle and I always say to them the smallest of pain, please...we are in a difficult period where we have nine (games) until the end of the year and that's a huge volume. So, we can't afford more injuries.
"I think you have already seen the list of injuries we are suffering. It's too much already. So the principle now is that small pain, you've got to speak and then we have to try to manage the squad and that's why I took Thapelo off and Lucas (Ribeiro Costa) also felt a bit of a pain, so I had to pull him off. Rushine felt something in the adductor and we had to take him off," Mokwena said after the match at Lucas Moripe Stadium.
"We would have liked to put Grant (Kekana) in, but since before the FIFA break, he has been struggling with a couple of situations. It's not even one injury with Grant and I was too scared to give him 45 (minutes). I was also conservative with Sailor (Khuliso Mudau), who has also been struggling a little bit with fatigue because he has not had some time to rest. We tried to rest him today."
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The victory over SuperSport took Sundowns back to the top of the Premiership standings, with four less games played than second-placed Cape Town City.
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