Richards Bay up for fight against Chippa
Richards Bay may be one of the teams staring relegation in the face, languishing second from bottom on the DStv Premiership table, but their coach, Vusumuzi “Kanu” Vilakazi, is beyond confident that the Natal Rich Boys will still be in the elite league come the 2024/2025 term.
Richards Bay, who have managed to win just three of the 18 league matches they have played so far this season, with a whopping 11 defeats and four draws, will be out to attempt to mend their dire league form when they face fellow strugglers Chippa United at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium today (7.30pm).
Richards Bay will be without the suspended Lwandile Mabuya and Romario Dlamini against the Chilli Boys.
Vilakazi is convinced the Natal Rich Boys will avoid the chop, vowing they will put in a fight in their remaining 12 league games, starting with Chippa.
“This team will never be relegated. I will remind you come the end of the season.
“We will not be relegated. “We will fight, we will continue to dig deeper to make sure we start winning games,” Vilakazi said.
“Everyone in the team is positive and we are on the same page with the players.
“We have 12 games to go and we know we will definitely get the points we need from those games.”
Meanwhile, with the Soweto derby against Kaizer Chiefs looming, Orlando Pirates coach Jose Riveiro insists there will not be any space for distraction when they host Cape Town Spurs in their DStv Premiership match at the Orlando Stadium today (7.30pm).
The Buccaneers and Amakhosi will meet in their derby match on Saturday at the FNB Stadium.
Riveiro said their focus now was on the match against Ernst Middendorp’s side, not the derby.
“We know that when other games are coming, the expectations are high, so we are used to it and we know we have to play other games that get the same amount of points for each,” Riveiro said.
Today’s Premiership fixtures (all 7.30pm): Orlando Pirates vs CT Spurs, Orlando Stadium; Chippa United vs Richards Bay, NMB Stadium; Sekhukhune vs Royal AM, Peter Mokaba Stadium; TS Galaxy vs Mamelodi Sundowns, Mbombela Stadium.