Pitso Mosimane admits Mamelodi Sundowns struggled to replicate their form from the Nedbank Cup semi-final in their Absa Premiership draw with Orlando Pirates on Tuesday.
The Brazilians defeated Bidvest Wits 3-2 in their cup tie on Saturday to set up a final encounter with Bloemfontein Celtic.
But they were unable to rediscover their goalscoring form against Pirates, with Mosimane explaining his side began to struggle with injuries, during their second game in just four days.
Mosimane was reported by KickOff as saying: “Lessons learnt from this game is that in the second game, you might not be as strong as you thought you were in the first game.”
He added: “Lessons learnt is that we had to substitute Mosa Lebusa because his calf [muscle] was giving him trouble, and we don’t want him to pull it.
“At half-time he said, ‘Coach, I’m feeling it [tighten].’ I said, ‘Please, don’t pull it. If you feel it’s getting overloaded, please indicate.’ And he indicated, so we took him out at the right time. It’s the same thing we had with Rivaldo when we played Wits three days back.
“So, lessons learnt is to do the substitutions as quick as possible. We’ve told our players, ‘If you feel any discomfort or anything, you have to come out because we have five subs and we’ve got three chances to make them.
“‘You cannot be selfish because, if you get injured, when you come back, the league [season] is finished.’ So, those are the lessons learnt.”