Nothing suggested that there was anything out of the ordinary at Chloorkop yesterday during Mamelodi Sundowns' training session, but the elephant in the room was too big to ignore.

The team put on a show of unity at practice but the unavoidable topic was the
arrest of their star midfielder Andile Jali earlier in the week.

The 28-year-old midfielder was charged for a domestic violence incident at the weekend but before that he had been reported to allegedly also have a drinking problem.

However, Jali trained as per usual with the team in view of the media that attended their media day, days before they take on Baroka in the Telkom Knockout quarterfinal.

Jali was jovial with his teammates and seemed to have a lot to chat about with his captain Hlompho Kekana.

His coach Pitso Mosimane didn't want to discuss any controversy about the player as he praised his performance.

"Let's just avoid the other stuff and stay on football. He works hard; you can see the body shape, he lost weight," Mosimane said.

Pressed to comment on the arrest, he quipped: "No let's not go there, stay on football."

Jali will likely be called upon against Bakgaga on Saturday, especially with skipper Kekana suspended.