Nedbank is Pitso's last hope

Mamelodi Sundowns have a chance to rescue their season after reaching the Nedbank Cup final at the weekend, but coach Pitso Mosimane believes the odds are stacked against them after the announcement of the venue for the final.

The PSL confirmed the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth as the venue for the May 16 final. While some sections applauded the league's decision to take the clash between Sundowns and Ajax Cape Town to Port Elizabeth, Mosimane said he would have preferred Durban, the PSL's default location in recent seasons.

"We don't have a say. Whether we like it or not we will go. I think the conditions in PE suit Ajax better. I would have liked to go to Durban instead. The other problem with PE is the difficulty for our fans to get there. I don't know who makes these decisions, and what helps them make these decisions. All I know is that this is difficult."

Besides the venue, Mosimane has another pressing concern, having just managed two wins in six matches in all competitions. The coach has also had to defend his side's conservative approach. The Brazilians got over the line with narrow margins in those two wins, which came en route to the cup final.

"We had a difficult crash," Mosimane said. "We went to TP Mazembe [a Caf Champions League match] and lost 3-2 on aggregate. We came back and then had to travel to Mpumalanga for a midweek game and there was drama there.

"That is the game that decided the league title. We then faced [Bloemfontein] Celtic. You know the story of that match, where we took the biggest dent and the biggest crash [a 5-0 defeat]. My players are human beings, and to bring them out of that is not easy," Mosimane said.