Chippa face uphill battle, says skipper

Looking at where Chippa United lie on the Absa Premiership log, skipper Mark Mayambela said it was going to be an uphill battle to lift the team away from relegation, but it was achievable.

The Port Elizabeth-based professional soccer side have dropped to 15th position after losing 1-0 to SuperSport United on Sunday at the Sisa Dukashe Stadium in East London.

Chippa will now try to collect as many points as they can in the remaining eight matches in an attempt to save themselves from relegation.

The team travel to Limpopo to play Black Leopards in a crucial fixture at the Thohoyandou Stadium on Sunday (3.30pm).

With only eight more games to go before the season ends, the former Ajax Cape Town player said the players were capable of helping to save the Chilli Boys from dropping out.

“Sunday’s game, like any other game, especially the last eight games, is important for us as a team,” Mayambela said.

“It’s not going to be easy playing against Black Leopards at home.

“They have good results at home and they have their supporters behind them.

“But it is important for us also to get maximum results or any result.

“I think also a draw will work for us because at this stage of the season any point is important.

“So we are obviously going for three points.

“I believe we have capabilities enough in the team [to achieve that],” he said.

“Considering the position we are in on the log, we are second from the bottom now, it is going to be uphill.

“But we have shown before we can move away from that, as we have done in the past.

“It’s all up to us as a team to go there and put in a good shift and work hard.”

After the setback against SuperSport, Chippa had a week’s break to recover and prepare for their next encounter.

Mayambela said during this time the coach had worked on every single aspect of the game.

“In football you always have to work on everything, even that area you are good at, you have to make it better.

“Even those areas you are not good at, you must try to make them better.

“So in our training sessions we always focus on everything and in how we want to play.

“We have been working on a lot of different moments of the game,” the midfielder said.

“After losing, players are always down in terms of morale, especially on Sunday going back from East London to PE.

“The mood was low because it was a home game and we needed points.

“We lost the game, but as professionals we have to lift ourselves up and try to motivate ourselves, especially as we have another game coming.

“Hopefully the spirits will be higher when we are closer to the game.

“I believe the players will be ready for the game and try to get maximum points against Black Leopards.”