Highbury have already started making plans for next season’s Motsepe Foundation Championship, head coach Kabelo Sibiya said.
The Gqeberha side have had an impressive run and adapted well in their first season in the professional league.
With only one game remaining before the season comes to an end, Highbury have already secured their safety in the league.
“We have already started planning for next season,” Sibiya said.
“We’ve had a meeting with the chair, the technical team and the management.
“We have already planned which day we are going home and coming back for the new season.
“We have assessed the players we have already recruited, and we have recruited players in the league who we believe can help us achieve our goals for next season.
“Honestly, we believe we are ready for next season. We learnt a lot in this league, and we couldn’t waste time because we know that in a month we must be back.
“So, we have already been recruiting while the season was still on.
“We believe the players we have recruited are relevant to how we want to play as a team because we play a certain way, so we had to recruit players who would fit our game model.”
The Yellow Nation played to a 1-0 win against Kruger United in their last home fixture for the season at the Gelvandale Stadium on Sunday.
The victory saw the team move up from 10th position to eighth on the log, with 38 points from their 29 matches.
Sibiya believes the triumph will provide a motivational boost going into their Motsepe Foundation Championship season finale against Upington City.
The much-anticipated game will take place at the Mxolisi Dicky Jacobs Stadium in Upington on Sunday (3pm).
“A win against Upington will set a nice tone for the next season.
“If you recruit players, they’ll come into a team that has finished the last season with wins.
“That will rub off on everyone. They will know that the team was winning matches even without them.
“So, when they come in, they are not coming in to help us win a football match, we have that culture in our team already.
“We will prepare well the same way we prepared for other matches, but we will have to look at how our opponents, Upington, are playing and then try to be specific to the plan.
“It will be nice to finish in a respectable position, honestly.
“The win against Upington will cement our place in the top eight, which will be nice for our first season,” the coach said.
The Herald
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.