Mamelodi Sundowns' unusually demanding schedule has seemingly come at a cost for new signings, as recent addition Zuko Mdunyelwa has been prepared on what to expect.
The amount of games that Sundowns play in a season has increased to unprecedented levels following their participation in the African Football League, a tournament they won in its inaugural season.
And given that the Brazilians usually reach the latter stages of almost all the tournaments they participate in, the demands on new players who are not used to that schedule are immense and recently seemingly led to injuries.
Off-season signings Thapelo Maseko, Lucas Ribeiro Costa and Bathusi Aubaas have already had their fair share of injuries, with the load getting heavier as the season progresses.
Sundowns team doctor Dr. Carl Tabane has revealed the challenges new players face at the club if they are not used to the demands of playing so many matches in a season.
"As part of the recruitment process we do our due diligence and part of that is to see what the player has been exposed to where he is coming from," Tabane said on The Pitchside Podcast published on Sundowns' YouTube Channel.
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"And so if we can get the training data, the game data and all of these things and we try and marry it with ours, if we can marry the two it becomes quite easy. But obviously when you see that it's not really the same, we try and create training programmes, to try and make sure they are able to withstand our game demands.
"Obviously our game demands, our style of play and all these things, unfortunately he (Aubaas) suffered an adductor, he came back and unfortunately once you have an injury, there's always a risk of a re-injury and that's what happened with Aubaas. When we thought he was healing, training well, unfortunately he suffered a re-injury, in the same muscle," he added.
Aubaas made his return in Sundowns' last game of 2023 in a goalless draw against Polokwane City, as a late substitute.
The Brazilians have already played 30 matches in all competitions in the last five months.
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