Mamelodi Sundowns' leading players could be disadvantaged for the end-of-season DStv Premiership awards following an additional two tournaments, which stretched their campaign.
Sundowns had an additional tournament in their calendar, the African Football League, which meant more matches than any other PSL side, especially since they won the competition.
The PSL had discontinued the Telkom Knockout from 2019, looking for a new sponsor and after the League cup finally got a sponsor this season, the Carling Knockout, this meant the Brazilians participated in an unprecedented six competitions.
This is including the MTN8 (where they reached the final), Nedbank Cup (in the final) and the CAF Champions League, where they went all the way to the semi-finals.
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As a result, the Tshwane giants had no other way of managing the matches but to rotate the squad, but that could have come at a cost for their leading players ahead of the end-of-season awards, particularly in the DStv Premiership.
The likes of Teboho Mokoena, Khuliso Mudau, Grant Kekana and Mothobi Mvala have played very little league matches amid the discussions on which players should be honoured with Player of the Season, Defender of the Season and Midfielder of the Season accolades.
In the DStv Premiership alone, Mokoena has only featured in 15 matches, which is a far cry compared to when he won the Footballer of the Season and Midfielder of the Season awards last campaign, when he played 24 league matches.
Mudau was named the league's Defender of the Season last season after featuring in 25 league fixtures but has so far only played 12 league games, due to the rotation system and partly injuries.
Kekana, touted as another player who had a good season, has only featured in 17 league encounters, while Mvala has only featured 15 times in the league.
Goalkeeping is the only position that was rarely rotated by head coach Rulani Mokwena, as Ronwen Williams made 20 league starts with Denis Onyango being given a run to feature in the so-called dead-rubber games after Sundowns won the league.
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More of Sundowns' key players will likely not feature in their remaining league games, to keep them fresh ahead of the Nedbank Cup final against Orlando Pirates next Saturday.
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