Aubrey Modiba appears to understand that statistics are little more than numbers on a piece of paper with no influence on match outcomes.
The Brazilians’ left-back refused to read anything into their opponents’ previous match as he looked ahead to Mamelodi Sundowns’ trip to DStv Premiership returnees Polokwane City.
“The preceding outcome is irrelevant. “Right now, they’ve just come back from a loss away from home,” Modiba explained to his club’s media department.
“Because they are playing at home (against us), it will be a different approach.” They continue to score goals. It demonstrates that we must not take them lightly.”
Sundowns travel to Polokwane City’s Peter Mokaba Stadium today, hoping to keep their winning streak going.
Past records would suggest that they will make it six on the trot today, Sundowns having generally gotten the better of Polokwane City in previous encounters.
From their 17 meetings overall, the league champions have won nine times, while Polokwane City were victorious on five occasions, with three matches ending in draws.
Modiba was not about to read too much into those statistics, and instead called on his teammates to be wary of a wounded opponent.
“We are going to have to defend and take our chances, because they can hurt us. They have done well (since returning to the top flight), and it shows they are doing something good.
“I am not expecting an easy game or a walk in the park. They’ve got pretty because good players. (Oswin) Appolis scored two goals against Cape Town Spurs, and they have the big striker Douglas Mapfumo, a target-man who can hold the ball well, and he scored in the previous game.”
It all points to a tough match for Sundowns, the versatile Modiba admits.
But he remains confident the Tshwane club will reign supreme.
“We’ve got players who are able to put a good performance on the day so we can get the points. We must apply ourselves, make sure we do well,” he said.
“Our preparations are going well. We started today after two days off, been going well, pushing hard at training, so we can keep on winning and keep the momentum going.
“We understand that losing one game may be devastating. We must continue doing what we have been doing in order to earn the points.”
While Sundowns may be favorites, the fact that their opponents have won both of their home matches – 1-0 and 3-1 victory against Stellenbosch FC and Cape Town Spurs, respectively – suggests they will not be easy to beat.
Mamelodi Sundowns suffered a major setback ahead of the forthcoming season
The good news is that Modiba is aware of this and will undoubtedly impress it on his teammates, who will march onto the well-kept pitch of the Peter Mokaba Stadium with fond recollections of their season-opening triumph over Sekhukhune United at the same site.