After registering their first win of the year, Chippa United will be looking to remove themselves from the Betway Premiership relegation zone when they welcome Durban City at the Buffalo City Stadium in East London on Saturday (3.30pm).
The Eastern Cape side are currently in 15th place on 12 points and a win or a draw could move them into 14th and off the chopping block.
Chippa spent the majority of the first half of the season at the bottom of the log.
But they received a boost when they beat Orbit College away 1-0 in Rustenburg thanks to a goal from Justice Figuareido last weekend.
That was the team’s second victory all season.
Head coach Vusumuzi Vilakazi wants the team to ride on the success of that Orbit result.
But he also wants his side to be more clinical in front of goal in the Durban City game.
Chippa’s offensive prowess has been disappointing this season.
Together with Siwelele, they are the only teams that are yet to reach double figures in terms of goals scored.
They will have to bury each chance they get and also tighten the screws on their defence, where they have conceded 21 goals.
Durban City are among the teams with a good scoring ratio, so they pose a real threat.
They are sixth with 25 points and are seven away from log leaders Mamelodi Sundowns.
“We still need to look at Durban City’s structure and approach. We’ll watch how they play and plan accordingly,” Vilakazi said during the week.
There will be some needles on the bench when City coach Sinethemba Badela marks his return to the Eastern Cape since he was shown the door by Chippa at the start of the season.
Badela only took charge of Chippa for two games — against Mamelodi Sundowns and Durban City.
The 1-0 defeat to his current employers in August was among the reasons listed by insiders for his sacking.
His third game was supposed to be in East London against TS Galaxy, but that never materialised.
There is no doubt his mission will be to get a league double for Durban City over his former employers.
Badela’s camp will have all the confidence they need, as they beat Polokwane City 1-0 in their previous league fixture.
During the week, the Chippa camp was rocked by reports that defender Nathan Fasika was closing on a deal with Libyan outfit Al Alhy Benghazi.
Fasika joined at the start of the season. He arrived at the club exactly at the time when Badela was relieved of his duties.
Chippa announced last week that they had acquired the services of Abbubaker Mobara.
It will be interesting if Vilakazi will hand the 31-year-old former Orlando Pirates and AmaZulu FC player a go against the Durbanites.