Real dogfight on the cards

At this time last year, Kgoloko Thobejane was a celebrated man and was planning for life in the Absa Premiership for his Baroka FC side.

Fast forward to this year. Things have changed dramatically for Thobejane and his Bakgaga team as they have one match left to retain their Premiership status.

The Limpopo-based team are bottom of the standings going into this afternoon’s final round of fixtures and will be hoping to score an unlikely win over Ajax Cape Town in the Mother City.

But even a win may not be enough to save Bakgaga as results from other matches will determine if they can move from their basement position. The win can, however, take them to 28 points.

For Bakgaga to survive and at least finish in the play-offs position, one in the match between Free State Stars and Chippa United must lose.

Stars and Chippa are tied on 27 points ahead of today’s fixtures and the Chilli Boys coach, Dan Malesela said all his team need to do is avoid defeat and they will be safe from relegation.

“We have two options,” said Malesela on the club’s website. “Option 1 is to win and option 2 is to draw. This means we will be very cautious in our approach,” he added.

“This probably puts pressure on Free State Stars but also on us because they will go all out to win. We will be up for it, but we will take only a draw or a win.”

Highlands Park seem to have the toughest challenge of all the five teams who are involved in the relegation scuffle as they host Mamelodi Sundowns in Makhulong.

The Brazilians need a win to ensure their participation in next year’s Caf Champions League, something which coach Pitso Mosimane has repeatedly stressed is his main priority.

Also see Page 46