A depleted Mamelodi Sundowns will visit TS Galaxy for their Carling Knockout first round fixture on Wednesday, without several of their leading stars who will still be wending their way back from national team duty.

The match will be played one day after the close of the Fifa International window with Sundowns set to kick-off their inaugural African Football League, a sign of their juggling of commitments that could see them play as many as 62 games in 2023/24.

But for coach Rulani Mokwena it comes with the territory and while missing the likes of Ronwen Williams, Mothobi Mvala, Grant Kekana, Teboho Mokoena, Aubrey Modiba, Khuliso Mudau and Themba Zwane will be a blow, he has to find a way to make it work, even with a fairly lengthy injury-list too.

He acknowledges that Galaxy will provide a very stern test, even to a full-strength selection.

“It would have been difficult with any other opponent, so we take it,” Mokwena said. “TS Galaxy are a very good team, well-structured and are a much stronger than last season. They did some incredible work during the transfer period, and they have a very good coach with a very strong technical team.

“We are looking forward to the game. It’s a cup game and one we have to enjoy once again.”

Sundowns have largely had it their own way against Galaxy, with five wins and a single defeat in the six previous meetings between the sides.

That loss was a 1-0 home defeat in August 2022, meaning they have won all three previous visits to Galaxy, scoring six goals in the process, an average of two per game.