Malesela eyes three more wins for Chippa

CHIPPA United coach Dan Malesela believes three more victories could be just enough for the team to cement a spot in the top eight of the Premier Soccer League this season.

The Chilli Boys have had a bitter-sweet league campaign this season having recorded only five wins, drawn five and lost seven matches from the 17 games played so far.

Despite their 2-0 loss to Bloemfontein Celtic at the weekend, Chippa are placed eighth on the log with 20 points.

The Port Elizabeth side’s mandate this season is to finish higher than their sixth place closure of last season.

However, before the second leg of the league commenced Malesela said he was not bothered where the club would finish this season.

He said his main task at the moment was to move the team to a more favourable position on the log.

Now that he has successfully managed to break through to the top half of the log and landed Chippa in eighth place, the coach is still not content with the team’s current ranking.

“No, I am not happy about being in the top eight,” Malesela said.

“If you look at the difference between us and the teams below us, it’s a small margin. We need to get at least three wins that will give us a big cushion and then we can focus on other things.

“Saying you are in the top eight can only count when the league ends.

“But while the league is running, we need to still knuckle down and work hard to move away from all the clubs that are below us,” he said

Chippa’ s next league fixture is against Golden Arrows, at Sisa Dukashe Stadium in Mdantsane on Friday night (kickoff 8pm).

The Chilli Boys have been faced with a big blow as they will go into the encounter without their key striker Rhulani Manzini, who was red-carded for head-butting Celtic’s Alfred Ndengane.

The team will be happy though to welcome back captain and midfield commander Thamsanqa Sangweni, who was out in their previous game against Siwelele due to suspension.

Saying you are in the top eight can only count when the league ends