Chippa United coach Vusumuzi Vilakazi has offered an honest assessment of his side’s chances of finishing in the top eight of the Betway Premiership with only a few matches remaining.
The Chilli Boys suffered a heavy 4-1 defeat to Mamelodi Sundowns on Friday night at Loftus Versfeld Stadium.
Currently sitting 13th on the table with 20 points from 23 games, Vilakazi admitted that while a top-eight finish is still mathematically possible, the team’s main priority is to secure their league status.
He emphasised the need to avoid slipping into the relegation zone and stressed the importance of collecting as many points as possible in the remaining fixtures.
“Yeah, I think the focus for now, we need to be honest to ourselves, is to focus, take one game at a time,” said Vilakazi.
“I know there’s a possibility for a top eight, but for now, we need to make sure that we save the status, we save the team.
“We don’t want to be close to relegation. We also don’t want to be close to a playoffs. So we still have a lot of work to do ahead of us and we will definitely make sure that we take advantage of playing at home.
“Maybe against Siwelele, we need to dominate and take that three points. Going forward, we will only take the positives of this game today.
“Yes, it was a heavy score, four, we allowed four, but I think we tried by all means to compete with the Sundowns, but we know the quality that they had.
“So that’s why I’m saying we just need to collect the positives and then we go to our peers and they have to feel us.”
