Royal AM head coach John Maduka has suggested that they struggled to compete with Mamelodi Sundowns' depth after a 2-0 defeat on Tuesday evening.
Goals by Peter Shalilile and Lesiba Nku handed Sundowns their second win over Royal AM in a space of three days.
Two consecutive losses to the Brazilians has also meant Thwihli Thwahla are in a relegation fight going into the last two games.
READ | Downs extend unbeaten run with Royal AM scalp
"It's not easy playing against Sundowns, the players that they have, we managed to try to absorb that pressure and remember when they put pressure on you until you break and once you break, they become more in charge," Maduka said on SuperSport.
"Not easy to play against them. First-half the mistake that we made we defended so deep, so we allowed them in the area where they are gonna be able to hurt us, technically they have players who able to take on players, they are very good in that area.
"Sooner or later, if you defend so deep like that, you're bound to make those mistakes and concede the goals. Second-half we said let's try a little bit, push a little bit, it helped but still they've got players technically very good. They can create chances out of nothing, very dangerous going forward," he said.
Maduka went on and said although Sundowns could rotate their squad with equally quality players, they had no choice but to play some of their DStv Diski Challenge players towards the end, as their squad is thin.
"It becomes very difficult and again you must check we introduced these boys coming from Diski (Challenge), they are still learning, so we have to do with whatever we have, we can't compete with Sundowns, they can use any player on the day and will give a good performance," the Malawian said.
"The boys went there, it's part of learning, they did well. Yes, we didn't win the game but they did well, they did try to get that experience. So ja we look forward to the next one, very difficult two games to go, it's in our hands, we must win those games for us to be able to survive," he added.
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