Ronwen Williams tells Mamelodi Sundowns teammates to dig deep after CAF Super Cup disappointment

Sundowns got off to the worst possible start at Loftus Versfeld Stadium on Sunday afternoon as they fell behind just four minutes into the match with Zakaria Draoui on target.

Iqraam Rayners levelled from the penalty spot midway through the first half but Saadi Radouani regained the Algerians' advantage 10 minutes before half-time.

Sundowns' hopes of a comeback suffered another major blow just 10 minutes after the restart when substitute Ahmed Khaldi produced a stunning curling effort to extend USM Alger’s lead to 3-1.

The loss comes after their recent exit from the CAF Champions League in the second qualifying round.

Reflecting on the result, Williams explained the importance of remaining united together as a team and bouncing back as quickly as possible.

"There is no point in pointing fingers now; we need each other. It's not going to help anyone, and I would urge Masandawana, tough as it is, to stick together, be there for the boys and support us," he said in the Sowetan.

"Obviously, it is tough. This one will hurt for a very long time. It's disappointing... [but] we have to reflect as a team on what worked, and we need to get back to that."

"As tough as it is, we need to pick ourselves up. It's going to be a long season, and we just need to be better as a team, draw strength from one another and keep growing," added the Bafana stopper.

"We can't win them all, but it is disappointing to lose at home in the final. But we will have to regroup and get going.

"You can only learn from these moments; I mean, we've got so much in the last few years that we have to learn from it.

"We need to dig deep, and we've always done that and risen up again and kept going. Sundowns is a massive team. We need to keep going and congratulate the other team."

Sundowns are next in action in the league away to Kruger United on November 28.