“But this group of players comes together every day, works hard on every action from videos to corrections to oppositional analysis to training where every ball counts, and every action on the pitch matters.
“We should not let it be embedded for people to perceive it as easy. It’s incredible what this group of players continues to do every day.”
Before thinking about the Champions League, Downs have Saturday’s big Premiership clash against fourth-placed Pirates at Orlando Stadium (3.30pm) on Saturday and their game against promoted, second-placed upstarts Richards Bay on February 7 to get past.
“For sure Champions League is a different space, much more intensive. And we have to try to anticipate and look at the fixtures,” Mokwena said.
“But we work one game at a time. And now the focus is on recovering the players and then we have seven days to the next match. I’ll spend a bit of time watching the opposition.
“Pirates is first before we even start to think about other things.”
Sundowns are also drawn with Egypt’s Al Ahly and Coton Sport of Cameroon in the Champions League’s Group B.
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