Chippa United coach Vusumuzi Vilakazi remains positive that the team will survive relegation despite a poor run in the Betway Premiership, which sees them rooted at the bottom of the table.
The Chilli Boys suffered their eighth league defeat of the season when they lost 2-0 to Orlando Pirates at Orlando Stadium on Tuesday.
Chippa will never go down and will never be relegated
— Vusumuzi Vilakazi , Chippa United coach
They remain at the bottom of the table with seven points after 13 matches, having registered only a single victory, but Vilakazi is nevertheless confident .
“What I can say is that I still maintain what I said when I came to Chippa — that Chippa will never go down and will never be relegated,” Vilakazi said.
“The reason I’m saying that is because of the potential that is in these players. Obviously, we need to align a few areas in terms of their psychology, in terms of believing in themselves.
“Once you give them confidence and belief in themselves, I think they will do wonders. With such a performance, hard work and commitment, I strongly believe we will do wonders going forward and save this team.
“We’ve got very good youngsters; we have Bonani Asanele, who played in the PSL. He was playing for the DStv Diski Challenge and is the leading goal scorer.”
The Chilli Boys face Siwelele on Saturday and will be desperate to gain three points.
“It’s unfortunate that I always come for the teams that are fighting relegation, and I am expected to do miracles,” Vilakazi said.
“I cannot talk for the games that I was not around,” Vilakazi said, “and obviously, with the first two games that I was in charge of, I only had a few days to work with the team.
“If you look at the game against Pirates, the performance is even higher than the two previous ones. So, it means we are improving, but we still need to work very hard. Some of the things can’t be rectified overnight.”
Fixtures
Tomorrow: Bay v AmaZulu, Richards Bay (7.30pm)
Saturday: Durban v Pirates, Moses Mabhida (3.30pm); Polokwane v Galaxy, Old Peter Mokaba (6pm); Siwelele v Chippa, Dr Molemela (6pm)
Sunday: Gallants v Magesi, Dr Molemela (3.30pm).
CAF Champions League
Tomorrow: MC Alger v Sundowns, Ali la Pointe Stadium, Douera, Algeria (9pm)
CAF Confederation Cup
Saturday: Chiefs v Zamalek, Peter Mokaba (3pm)
Sunday: Black Stars v Stellenbosch, Amaan Stadium, Zanzibar (6pm).
Sowetan
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.