ON KEEPING TOP-EIGHT SPOT
ALL the pressure is on Orlando Pirates heading into tomorrow’s Absa Premiership clash at the Orlando Stadium, says Ajax Cape Town coach Stanley Menzo.
Ajax have overcome a dismal first three quarters of the campaign to shoot to eighth spot on the log and are in contention to qualify for the lucrative MTN8 next season.
They are three points ahead of 10th-placed Pirates‚ and have a superior goal difference‚ with victory a must for the Buccaneers with two rounds remaining if they want to complete a top-half finish.
Menzo said while a topeight finish was an expectation for Pirates‚ for his team it would be a bonus in a campaign that saw them take 10 games to register a first win in the Premiership. “It’s more of a ‘cup final’ for them than for us‚” he said.
“We will go there and try to save our top-eight position. It is up to them to see what they can do.”
Saturday’s 2-0 victory over Bloemfontein Celtic was a third victory in a row for Ajax and Menzo said the spirit and the belief that was missing from the side earlier in the campaign had returned.
“The spirit has come back suddenly. Sometimes you need some luck for that and then it is there,” he said.
“You are always looking for challenges and maybe for us the next challenge is to make it four wins in a row‚ then the top-eight position is OK.
“It was a brilliant first half from us [against Celtic] with two fantastic goals. We did well in controlling the game.
“Second half, we knew it would be difficult‚ we couldn’t kill the game. If I’m honest‚ the second half was more for them than for us.”
Ajax will be without winger Mark Mayambela‚ who was booked as he loped off the field in disappointment at being substituted against Celtic‚ a fourth yellow card of the campaign that triggers a suspension.
The irony is that Menzo believes Mayambela was playing within himself to avoid a booking in the game and that was why he took him off.
“I don’t understand this attitude‚ I don’t know where it comes from‚” Menzo said.
“He was not in the game because he was afraid for the yellow card and as a coach you have to make decisions. But his attitude coming off the pitch was wrong.”
It’s more of a ‘cup final’ for them than for us