Chippa United will look to break a four-match winless run against Ajax when the former Cape Town neighbours meet at the Buffalo City Stadium in East London on Sunday.
And while on paper the Chilli Boys will be confident of registering their fifth home win, this match can be viewed as an away match for both teams as neither has ever played at the East London venue before.
This was until Chippa boss Siviwe Mpengesi finally made good on his long-time promise – to take top flight football across the length and breadth of the entire Eastern Cape – by agreeing to play the five of his team’s seven remaining home matches in East London.
On the road, the Chilli Boys are far from being hot as chilli thus far this season, after winning only two matches and losing four.
At home though, their record is impressive as they have registered four victories, a draw and suffered only three blemishes.
With the Ajax hoodoo to break come Sunday, Chippa will be looking to on-loan goal poacher David Zulu to inspire them to victory just like he used to before crossing over to Kaizer Chiefs at Naturena.
Zulu, who did not see much game time in Jozi, has since praised his coach Dan Malesela for triggering his fire to bang in them goals.
The striker said upon his return to Chilli Boys, Malesela – a former player in his own right – sat him down for a one-on-one session to talk some positivity as Zulu detractors viewed his move back to the Eastern Cape outfit as a downgrade.
The talk seemed to have boosted Zulu’s confidence as he is now hoping to announce his return with a goal in the East London clash.
“He encouraged me and said I should not take my move negatively. I should look forward to it, like get myself back there again,” said the ex-Black Leopards forward.
“The coach knows my situation and he has been a player before. He just wanted me to settle and not put myself under any pressure at all.
“Pressure is everywhere. Coming back again the expectations are high so I have to live up to them,” he continued.
“I want to see the team as high as we can get in the league and also start scoring goals.”
On the other side, Ajax are concerned about going into the unknown East London venue to meet a Chippa that has changed radically over the last weeks, says coach Roger de Sa.
“We are playing a team that has made drastic changes in the last days, losing two influential players.
“William Twala is a fantastic footballer; I tried to get him to Ajax when I first came here. Mark Mayambela is also a loss for them and I hear there is talk of another one or two going.
“So even if I’ve been watching a tape of their last game when they beat Golden Arrows away last weekend, I’m not so sure what to expect. They played pretty well in that match.”
Chippa chief operations officer Lukhanyo Mzinzi does not share De Sa’s sentiments on Mayambela and Twala, saying the team had enough depth to steer it to glory without the duo.
Ajax snapped their long-standing winless streak when they beat Jomo Cosmos in Potchefstroom last weekend. “Our performances have been a bit up and down and we can get better,” said De Sa.
Ajax have had to scurry to change their travel arrangements and De Sa said they were finding it hard to get an appropriate hotel: “They have the Iron Man competition there this weekend so it’s been tough sorting all the logistics.” — Additional reporting by Mark Gleeson
Chippa out to end Ajax jinx
And while on paper the Chilli Boys will be confident of registering their fifth home win, this match can be viewed as an away match for both teams as neither has ever played at the East London venue before.
This was until Chippa boss Siviwe Mpengesi finally made good on his long-time promise – to take top flight football across the length and breadth of the entire Eastern Cape – by agreeing to play the five of his team’s seven remaining home matches in East London.
On the road, the Chilli Boys are far from being hot as chilli thus far this season, after winning only two matches and losing four.
At home though, their record is impressive as they have registered four victories, a draw and suffered only three blemishes.
With the Ajax hoodoo to break come Sunday, Chippa will be looking to on-loan goal poacher David Zulu to inspire them to victory just like he used to before crossing over to Kaizer Chiefs at Naturena.
Zulu, who did not see much game time in Jozi, has since praised his coach Dan Malesela for triggering his fire to bang in them goals.
The striker said upon his return to Chilli Boys, Malesela – a former player in his own right – sat him down for a one-on-one session to talk some positivity as Zulu detractors viewed his move back to the Eastern Cape outfit as a downgrade.
The talk seemed to have boosted Zulu’s confidence as he is now hoping to announce his return with a goal in the East London clash.
“He encouraged me and said I should not take my move negatively. I should look forward to it, like get myself back there again,” said the ex-Black Leopards forward.
“The coach knows my situation and he has been a player before. He just wanted me to settle and not put myself under any pressure at all.
“Pressure is everywhere. Coming back again the expectations are high so I have to live up to them,” he continued.
“I want to see the team as high as we can get in the league and also start scoring goals.”
On the other side, Ajax are concerned about going into the unknown East London venue to meet a Chippa that has changed radically over the last weeks, says coach Roger de Sa.
“We are playing a team that has made drastic changes in the last days, losing two influential players.
“William Twala is a fantastic footballer; I tried to get him to Ajax when I first came here. Mark Mayambela is also a loss for them and I hear there is talk of another one or two going.
“So even if I’ve been watching a tape of their last game when they beat Golden Arrows away last weekend, I’m not so sure what to expect. They played pretty well in that match.”
Chippa chief operations officer Lukhanyo Mzinzi does not share De Sa’s sentiments on Mayambela and Twala, saying the team had enough depth to steer it to glory without the duo.
Ajax snapped their long-standing winless streak when they beat Jomo Cosmos in Potchefstroom last weekend. “Our performances have been a bit up and down and we can get better,” said De Sa.
Ajax have had to scurry to change their travel arrangements and De Sa said they were finding it hard to get an appropriate hotel: “They have the Iron Man competition there this weekend so it’s been tough sorting all the logistics.” — Additional reporting by Mark Gleeson
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