SuperSport United defender Tefu Mashamaite will count on his experience to pull him through as he deputises for suspended Morgan Gould in the CAF Confederation Cup final.

Gould will be unavailable for both legs of the final as he will be out on suspension. Coach Eric Tinkler has earmarked Mashamaite as replacement to partner in defence with Clayton Daniels.

Matsatsantsa a Pitori will take on DR Congo giants TP Mazembe in Lubumbashi on Sunday (3.30pm).

The South Africans have the advantage of playing the second leg at the Lucas Moripe Stadium next Saturday.

"I have a couple of games with Clayton and I feel we had done very well," Mashamaite said.

"At the end of the day it's not about our individual relationship, it's about how we're gelling together in the team.

"I think we are both experienced and we have both travelled, we have that mutual respect."

According to CAF rules, a player carries a suspension over from the group stages into the knockout stages.

Since Gould got a one-match suspension in the semifinal against Club Africain, it triggers a double suspension, which means he misses out on both legs of the final.

Tinkler's management skills will be tested as SuperSport had six core members of the team on international duty with Reneilwe Letsholonyane also suspended for Sunday's game.

While the Bafana Bafana contingent including Daniels, Gould, Ronwen Williams, Dean Furman and Bradley Grobler are expected back in the country this morning, striker Jeremy Brockie is expected to land tomorrow morning from duty with New Zealand in Peru.

"It's going to be a mammoth task. Going forward we are going to rely on the depth of the squad. We go into this game with a few suspensions, a few injuries and players need to step up, and that was the message we tried to relay to the players.

"We would love to have had a week to prepare with the full squad. And that's not the case," said Tinkler.