Chippa at Sisa tonight
GO! Chilli Boys
Despite coming second best in five games since their first ever PSL encounter, Chippa United is determined to turn their fortunes around and beat bogey club Bloemfontein Celtic when they meet in a league clash at the Sisa Dukashe Stadium in Mdantsane on Friday evening.
Chippa have proven to be some sort of minnows to Celtic losing five times in 11 games with three draws.
This season Chippa were walloped 2-0 by Celtic in the first round.
Now they meet Siwelele when they are so desperate for points, with a new technical team hoping the visitors will be their first victims of the tenure.
The need for a win has not been lost on the players with skipper Mark Mayambela admitting that nothing short of a win would be required.
“The most important thing is that we are playing this game at home, and when we are home we are always searching for positive results – that’s irrespective of what happened in the first round,” Mayambela said.
“I think they [Celtic] were in a good space when they beat us in the first round, but we are going to try and push for maximum points. That’s what is important right now for us as a team.”
After playing 15 matches in the league the Chilli Boys remain rooted at the second last position on the log standings with 12 points.
Celtics are in a much better position as they occupy 7th position with 21 points.
Mayambela said as they were coming out of the festive season break everyone was refreshed and ready to work and there was no better stadium than the NU2 venue to kick off their second campaign.
“We know how to behave in such critical moments in the league and we are going to bounce back. Because this is the job we are built for and those few days we got to recover really helped us.
“We are feeling rejuvenated and we are ready to push for the three points up for grabs.
“We know we are not in an ideal position on the log standings, but if you look at the point difference between us and log leaders [Bidvest Wits] it’s 18 points. That’s [six] games and we still have 16 games to play [before the season concludes].
“That shows you how close the league title race is, because three points change everything and that’s why it’s so important for us to win this one,” said Mayambela.
The left wing said working with new coaching staff – former Black Leopards coach Joel Masutha who recently replaced Eric Tinkler as head coach and former Tornado coach Tshepo Motsoeneng who’s now assisting Masutha – was bliss.
“They are so humble and they are always looking to help the players and they want to see everyone of us grow and doing well.
“They’ve shown us it’s not about them but about the team and it’s good to see people who have passion about what they do.
“Plus we have an intimate squad now and everyone will get a chance to play which is good for the team.
“So we are coming there to collect all three points and make our fans happy. We really want to give them a Christmas and a New Year present.
“Hopefully they will come in their numbers and support us because we really need them and we’ll celebrate after the game.”
The game kicks off at 8pm.