Saleng was left out of the squad last season after reportedly breaching club rules on several occasions, including missing the CAF Champions League final and Sundowns’ pre-season camp in Austria.
The former Orlando Pirates attacker is now back with his teammates and is expected to be considered for selection for upcoming Betway Premiership and CAF Champions League matches.
Speaking after their 4-1 victory over Richards Bay on Tuesday night, that included a brace from Iqraam Rayners and a goal apiece from Tashreeq Matthews and Fawaaz Basadien, the Downs boss gave his assessment on Saleng.
“In the same way that I spoke about Saleng when I last spoke about him, we as the club, the sports direction, the players, the captains and the chairman [Thlopie Motsepe] we decided to give ourselves and Saleng an opportunity to move forward in a positive way,” Cardoso said on FARPost.
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“Saleng had a period of training alone consistently with the values that we have inside a professional team, and since he rejoined the team, he has kept that berth.
“We are happy that he shows consistency in training; obviously, his time [to play] will appear, I’m pretty sure, but when will it be? I don’t know. Obviously, it’s important to understand that this season we have more options in the front than we had in the past.
“So I’m pretty sure he will appear, and he’s a player that we trust, and what I mean by trust is that there are positive relations so that he can trust me and I also trust him.
“You saw me celebrating with him, pushing him to lift the MTN8 cup because I support him. We have a special club; probably in another club he wouldn’t be in this process, but at Mamelodi Sundowns we do our best for everybody.”