Masandawana head into this weekend's CAF Champions League tie against Al-Merrikh safe in the knowledge that the club has already secured top spot in Group A but will nonetheless be concerned by the absence of a number of key players.
Among them is defender-cum-midfielder Rivaldo Coetzee who was recently withdrawn from the Bafana Bafana camp ahead of this month's international friendlies against Guinea and France, and who is set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines.
"Rivaldo is still injured, he is out with a hernia," Mnqithi told the media on Thursday. "He is supposed to go for an operation sometime this week but he's probably out for the next four to six weeks."
The Sundowns coach also revealed that he may be forced to call upon some of the players returning from international duty as a result of an injury crisis at the club, which has seen Thapelo Morena, Erwin Saavedra and, potentially, Mosa Lebusa, all ruled out.
"As for the players who went with the national team, there is a possibility that we will consider some of them because of our injury status," he added.
"Remember, Thapelo got injured in Sudan and he is still not yet back. Fortunately, [Khuliso] Mudau did not play the full match [for South Africa against France] on Tuesday so we are hoping that might also help us to a certain extent in that right-back position.
"In terms of the other injuries, we still have [Erwin] Saavedra out, we still have Gift Motupa out and Mosa [Lebusa], it is still 50-50 with him, but we are optimistic..."
Sundowns currently top the Group A standings with 13 points from five matches, six points clear of reigning champions Al Ahly, and a further nine points ahead of the Sudanese pairing of Al Hilal and Al-Merrikh.