Dan urges predators to up gear

CHIPPA United coach Dan “Dance” Malesela wants his strikers who are short of game time to seize the opportunity and demand to be played regularly with a good performance against Golden Arrows tomorrow night.

The Chilli Boys will be without strikers Rhulani Manzini, Tshwarelo Bereng and Ketlego Mashego for the game when the Port Elizabeth-based outfit lock horns with Abafana Bes’thende in what promises to be a thrilling Premier Soccer League encounter at the Sisa Dukashe Stadium (kickoff 8pm) in Mdantsane tomorrow.

Chippa are placed on position eight on the log and should they beat seventh-placed Arrows, they will be one point behind sixthplaced Polokwane City.

Manzini was shown a straight red card in the 2-0 loss to Bloemfontein Celtic last week for an offthe-ball incident when he headbutted Siwelele defender Alfred Ndengane while both Bereng and Mashego are nursing injuries they sustained in training this week.

Malesela believes this will be a perfect opportunity for other marksmen like Lerato Manzini, Linda Shiba and David Zulu to raise their hands up and be counted.

“Any change to the starting lineup affects what you had prepared. But we have been playing without Rhulani for quite some time now.

“Now it’s up to the other players who will be playing to make things difficult for Rhulani to come back to the team,” he said.

“We have enough players who can do the job.”

While the three players are out for tomorrow’s game, the Chilli Boys will welcome back the ever hardworking captain Thamsanqa Sangweni, who was suspended for last weekend’s game.

Sangweni will be expected to dictate terms in the middle of the park with his partners in crime Buyani Sali and Sandile Zuke.

If East London is to continue being a happy hunting ground for Malesela’s charges, the midfield trio will have to dominate, keep position like they have been doing and create goalscoring chances.

Malesela said they will be going for broke and called on fans to once again pack Sisa Dukashe.

“This will be our home game and we always try to win all our home games. Obviously, it can happen that we lose some home games but we always try very hard to win our home games,” the tactician said.

Tomorrow night’s game will be the third of four scheduled at the Mdantsane stadium. Chippa beat struggling Highlands Park 2-0 in December before drawing 1-1 with Mamelodi Sundowns last week.

The team will wrap up its Mdantsane venture with a May 6 game against Ajax Cape Town.