Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Manqoba Mngqithi has expressed his concern ahead of the start of the CAF Champions League group stage, a thorny issue even under Rulani Mokwena at The Brazilians.
Sundowns have been juggling a number of competitions in a single season for years now, but their main challenge has been the usage of players called up to Bafana Bafana, in trying the keep the squad fresh.
READ: 'Sirino is three players in one'
The side have always held the belief the national team needs to show them some courtesy for the sake of the conditioning of their players, in reserving them in games that do not seem important, like friendly matches.
Mngqithi expressed disappointment in the previous international break after Themba Zwane started in back-to-back games against Congo-Brazzaville and eventually suffered a long-term injury, for not being managed properly.
The main criticism being that coach Hugo Broos played 'Mshishi' for the whole 90 minutes against Congo, even though Bafana were already 3-0 up before half-time in a game they won 5-0 at home, and started him again in a horrible pitch away, where he sustained a bad Achilles heel injury.
Sundowns are set to start their CAF Champions League group stage campaign straight after the FIFA break towards the end of November, and Mngqithi has made a plea to Broos.
"That one is very difficult for us, but I think since we had a meeting with the national team coach, I think it will help a little bit because we will be able to talk around these issues. Because sometimes when it's a friendly match, we might request that, 'Hey, for friendly matches we should not [release players]," Mngqithi told reporters at a post-match press conference after their 3-0 win over Cape Town City at Loftus Versfeld Stadium.
"If it's a qualifier and we've already qualified, for instance. We can always try to talk, because at least that window of talking and sharing ideas is going to help all of us.
"The truth is it's always very difficult, because if you look at the [Golden] Arrows game that we played in the Carling [Knockout] Cup, it was just immediately after the FIFA break and it causes a lot of problems when you have a lot of players who have travelled.
READ | R172 000 payout: 'I now hate football'
"And now you must try to use the players who have been around [not selected] and fortunately, we used them in that game and won the game very well. We took the same squad to Polokwane [against Polokwane City] hoping for another five and we could not even get a shot at goal," the 53-year-old added.
Sundowns kick off their Champions League group stages campaign against Maniema Union, with two Moroccan giants AS FAR Rabat, formerly coached by Nasreddine Nabi, and Raja Casablanca also in the same group.