Masandawana start their continental journey on Saturday and the former Stellies striker might make his debut.
Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Manqoba Mngqithi has stated new signing Iqraam Rayners will have to work for his starting berth at the club.
Masandawana signed the Bafana Bafana international from Stellenbosch a couple of weeks ago from Stellenbosch.
The 28-year-old was the Premier Soccer League's Golden Boot runner-up. He found the back of the net 15 times, one less than Tshegofatso Mabasa of Orlando Pirates.
Rayners warned it will take some time before starting matches at Downs
“It's a little bit of a tough one, I must be honest because you also don't want to induce stress and pressure on him. It's very important that we manage that arrival and integration very well,” the former AmaZulu coach told the media.
“It can also destabilise our change room because, sometimes as coaches, we tend to look down on what we had before other players arrived, and that can cause a lot of problems in the change room,” Mngqithi added.
“I do believe when you're playing a player like Iqraam, it's because you want him to add on what we have, but it's not that we want to minus certain individuals in the team. It becomes very bad when, at the beginning of the season, you have not scored goals, and now you want to prioritise using particular players at the expense of other players.
“If you just hand it over to Iqraam without him working hard for it, it may kill the other players that start to realise maybe their time at the club is up.”
When will Rayners make his Downs debut?
On Saturday, Sundowns will be away against Mbabane Swallows in the first leg of the Caf Champions League's second preliminary round.
Mngqithi has revealed the South Africa international might play a part for his new team, “I must say he has done very well.
“He has only played in one friendly and he scored a lot, so we are looking forward to seeing more because the reason we brought him here is because we believe he's got goals, which is what we've been lacking.
“We are very excited that Iqraam probably did not get as many game minutes during the Fifabreak, which might give us a little bit of an edge to try and use him for this match.”
After the Caf Champions League outing, Downs will focus on the Tshwane Derby on Tuesday, September 17 against SuperSport United.
