Sundowns last won the competition in 2015 when they beat Kaizer Chiefs 3-1 in the final in Durban. Steve Komphela was coach of Amakhosi at the time and will take on Mosimane in the last-16 next weekend, this time at the helm of Bloemfontein Celtic.
A major concern for Mosimane is that the Telkom Knockout will clash with the Champions League, should Sundowns go far in the competition.
“It’s obviously going to be a difficult game. Cup games are always a little bit of a problem for us. If you look at the top eight, it clashed with the CAF Champions League. You saw that we had different lineups when we played in Cape Town and home in the semifinal of the MTN8, that had an effect on the result.
“The Telkom Knockout clashes with the Champions League that’s about to start in a few weeks’ time. That also has an effect on us. We are two games behind in the league in terms of our schedule and there are also international games. To play against a team that nearly won this competition last year, a revived team, will be difficult.”
Mosimane says Komphela's quality as a coach has always been there, despite the difficult three years he had at Chiefs.
“Coach Steve is showing that he’s been good all the time, irrespective of what happened at Kaizer Chiefs. He has done well and we couldn’t even beat them last week.”