Chippa hope to fly in Dobsonville
Moroka Swallows and Chippa United will meet at the Dobsonville Stadium on Friday night for the first encounter of Round 10 of the Absa Premiership, kick-off at 8pm CAT (SA, GMT+2). Catch the game live on SS4, SSHD4 and supersport.com
The two sides come into the game on the back of having dropped points in the midweek and will be looking to redeem themselves from their latest slip-ups.
The Dube Birds were handed a 2-0 defeat to Bidvest Wits on Tuesday evening and it was a loss in which Swallows skipper, Lefa Tsutsulupa, is looking at with a positive outlook as he considers it to be a ‘wake-up call’.
“In a way the loss was a bit of a wake-up call. We lost our way somehow and we are now working on it and hopefully we will come to the party on Friday,” he says.
“We are strong at Dobsonville and we want to collect our points there. We know the pitch and that helps us.
“Honestly we want to win our all games. We never go out to defend and there will be no exceptions. We are going to play aggressive and take an offensive approach and hopefully we will convert the chances we create.”
Chippa have had their own struggles of late and find themselves sitting second from bottom on the leader board, with just Mamelodi Sundowns below them, but Swallows won’t be taking the task lightly.
“Chippa are in the PSL by merit. So far the results have not been forthcoming but it is all about getting things right,” adds Tsutsulupa.
“It won’t be easy playing the teams that came from the lower divisions, but it is all about commitment from us.”
Chippa, on the other hand, come into the game with a new coach and renewed confidence in themselves after new coach Farouk Abrahams helped the Chilli Boys come from a two-goal deficit to draw 2-2 to SuperSport United.
“It affects any team changing coaches a lot, but I think Farouk Abrahams is very experienced and he knows the game very well,” says Cole Alexander.
“The first week of his training lifted up the guys’ spirit and it showed against Supersport. It’s also a boost for us because a point against SuperSport is good. They are a very good competitive team and getting a point is positive. It helps us with our confidence.”
The Birds defence has been the biggest area of concern for Zeca Marques’ side, having already conceded 13 goals this season and Alexander is already eyeing what to do and feels that playing away won’t change their game.
“Swallows is a very good team, especially when attacking, so we must be prepared for that. They are not as good in defending as attacking. So we need to counter attack them,” he adds.
“Away games for me, personally, don’t matter really. All that counts in their favour is the support they will get there, but other than that it’s who wants it more I say.”
