Chippa United head into Friday night’s daunting Betway Premiership fixture against champions Mamelodi Sundowns knowing league survival is on the line going down the final straight of the season.
Chippa midfielders Xolani Sithole and Asanele Bonani are under no illusion that a loss to Mamelodi Sundowns this weekend will be a blow to their pursuit of remaining in the Betway Premiership.
With just 20 points from 22 matches, Chippa are in 13th place, only two points clear of the relegation playoff and six points clear of the automatic relegation rung.
With only eight matches remaining, coach Vusumuzi Vilakazi’s squad needs every point it can get, beginning with Friday’s “David vs Goliath” fixture at Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria (7.30pm).
The Gqeberha side have lost crucial points in their past three league games. They lost 3-1 to Marumo Gallants, drew against relegation-threatened Magesi FC, then lost 2-1 to Stellenbosch.
“We will fight for three points; even if it’s one point, it will be a good result because we are playing away,” Sithole said.
“However, the aim is not to get one point but to get a win on Friday to make sure we move away from the position we are in.
“All the teams at the bottom are fighting for survival, and we also want to move away from that position.
“Yes, we anticipate a difficult game on Friday since we are playing away, but as I see it, we are well prepared, and we can win the game. In the first game against them, we created more chances than they did, so even now, if we can stick to that mindset, we can do that,” Sithole said.
“We cannot respect them. You can never respect your opponent.”
Motherwell-born Bonani said Friday’s match was self-motivating and the coach would not have much to do to hype up the players. “We do not need any motivation for Friday’s match against Sundowns.
“We need to work hard so that we can prepare ourselves for the upcoming game and hope for the best.
“The coach has been impressing upon us that we need to score first, because when the team playing against us scores first, we take time to recover.
“So he has been emphasising that we need to have a proper warm-up and be in tune so that we can score first. Start the match with high energy and intensity, and later try to balance everything on the pitch.
“On paper, the odds are against us for Friday’s game, so we need to give our best against Sundowns.”
Chippa will play Siwelele at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on Tuesday night after returning from Pretoria. “We are close to relegation, and we don’t have to lose. We don’t have time to draw games,” Bonani said. “So we need to do our best so that we can get three points.”
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