Sekhukhune United assistant coach MacDonald Makhubedu was encouraged by what he saw from the players after Vusimuzi Mncube's sending off in the first half.
Goals from Peter Shalulile and Lucas Ribeiro Costa guided DStv Premiership champions Mamelodi Sundowns to a 2-1 win over Sekhukhune on Friday night.
Mncube was shown a straight red for a dangerous challenge on Teboho Mokoena early in the first half and while Jamie Webber did pull a goal back, they were unable to rescue a point.
Read | Sundowns sink Sekhukhune in fiery DStv Prem opener
Makhubedu, who was standing in for the suspended head coach Brandon Truter, says the early red card affected their game but they learned a lot about their players from their reaction.
"It was a tough game, two good teams, from the first whistle you could see that it was going to be a very interesting game, I think we did well, they also played well, they are a quality side as we are. I think the two teams played well and it's the first game of the season," Makhubedu told SuperSport TV.
"It (the red card) affected our game and also it was a good information for us, now we can see that we have players with character, we have a fighting spirit but it was too early to get a red card.
"If it's a red card he was reckless on that one and maybe he went with the momentum because the pitch also was slippery, I'm not sure on that but Vusi is Vusi, he's still one of our best. We'll have to talk to him and try and make sure that he comes back strong," he said.
Sekhukhune brought on Tiklas Thutlwa at half-time in place of Rally Bwalya in a tactical move and they were a different side in the second stanza as they nearly rescued a point.
"Very good player (Thutlwa), speedy winger. We could see last five minutes they were bombing up with two full-backs and we wanted to catch them on two, three, four counter-attacks and we knew with him (Chibuike) Ohizu, (Elias) Mokwana and (Jamie) Webber we will catch them," Makhubedu continued.
"We wanted also to have one v ones on the sides with our full-backs, pound for pound with them, so but it was not meant to be. I think we gave a good account of ourselves. Maybe if we had 11 v 11 we could have done better.
"But if it's not your day, it's not your day, I'm happy with my boys, I'm happy for technical team as well, we worked very hard on this game. I think we did very well and this was a good game and I'm proud of our boys. And I think our head coach wherever he is up there he's also happy with what we gave today. This was a good information for us with new players and it was a test of character."
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