Mokoena in particular would be a big miss, with the trio having been sidelined while on national team duty with Bafana Bafana during the international window.

Cardoso is unlikely to want to publicly rule them in or out ahead of the clash with Pirates, leaving the Buccaneers to guess over their fitness and plan accordingly.

“Obviously, it’s important to know that we will not risk anything for any player,” Cardoso told reporters. “We have many challenges ahead, and today we will see the condition of the players.

“They arrived yesterday, and we assessed them during the day; it’s the first contact that the doctors had with the players. I had a report yesterday, but let’s wait and see how they react to the work we put in with them.”

Despite it being a major cup final with a R10-million first prize on the line, Cardoso also said he was thinking about next week’s Betway Premiership clash with Richards Bay and the CAF Champions League second-round tie with Angolan side Wiliete that follows.

“This match over the weekend is important, but on Tuesday there is another one; there is the second preliminary round match in the Champions League. So we will see if they fully recover,” Cardoso said.

Sundowns have not lifted the MTN8 since 2021 and have watched Pirates win every final since then. They will be hoping to break the Soweto giants’ run this weekend and deny them a fifth successive top-eight title.

Ahead of the decider, Cardoso also revealed he was settled at Sundowns, having renewed his contract.