Rulani Mokwena reveals Peter Shalulile played injured in MTN8 final

With the side already without another forward in Lucas Ribeiro, it would have been a double blow for Downs to also lose the Namibian goal poacher.

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Mokwena applauded his charges for giving it their all.

"Gallant effort, one leg Peter, does his best. So, against all odds, we tried. We created incredible chances, we had a very good situation with Peter, we had another big situation with Marcelo [Allende] and then Pirates only I think had one chance, which is that Saleng situation," Mokwena said.

Ribeiro limped off in the CAF Champions League second leg win over Bumamuru the weekend prior, but failed a late fitness test to be available for the cup tie.

The Sundowns coach adds there was a lot of work behind the scenes to rush the in-form player back to action.

"The medical team tried very hard to get him back but it wasn't to be. They worked very hard also on Peter, unbelievable selflessness, very proud of their efforts. So, we'll just focus on the positives and the positives are that this team always tries its level best to win. We are Sundonwns, we'll bounce back. It's a difficult one to stomach," Mokwena added.

On losing the cup, Mokwena vowed to buck up with Sundowns still top of the DStv Premiership after eight games and the Carling Cup, Champions League, African Football League and Nedbank Cup to follow.

"We let our supporters down, we let the football club down, for sure. We feel it and we apologise for that but we march on and the universe has no budget for pity parties. So, there's no time to feel sorry for ourselves. We have to pick ourselves up and be strong and continue to go forward. We've got a lot of trophies to play for, a lot of games to win and we'll bounce back."