Keanu Cupido confident in Sundowns depth despite Grant Kekana blow

Kekana will miss the semifinal second leg at Loftus Stadium after his red card away in Tunis, however, Cupido believes coach Miguel Cardoso has capable replacements.

The centre back added that he is ready to use his experience to guide either Khulumani Ndamane or Keagan Johannes if called upon.

"It's a big blow. Grant says has the experience for years now and he helped us a lot. We will miss him. And then we have Ndamani, who is very young and a very good player. Keegan is there as well," said Cupido

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"So we feel like they can fill Grant's shoes, but also leading into that. I think they'll need my help because they're not yet experienced at this stage of the tournament. But we've been doing well, rotating the centre-backs."

"Each one got the opportunity, and I think they took it with both hands and now there is another opportunity for one of them to fill the spot."

Sundowns won the away fixture 1-0 in Tunis with Kekana one of the standout players and Cupido explained why they were better in the second half.  

Cupido added that The Brazilians will not get ahead of themselves given the fine margins heading into the second leg where Esperance need to score to stand any chance of progressing to the final. 

The former Cape Town City centre back explained why playing in the Champions League was such a big deal for Sundowns players.