Chippa train in heat for playoff
Chippa United are hoping the ploy of spending four days in the humid conditions of Richard’s Bay will help their chances when they take on host Thanda Royal Zulu in the Premier Soccer League’s promotion-relegation play-offs.
The match is a vital penultimate game of the six-match series where Santos are defending their top flight status against the two clubs who finished runners-up in the National First Division.
Chippa will be promoted if they will their remaining two games while a home win would put Thanda in the driving seat.
“It’s much hotter than in Cape Town so we wanted to give the guys enough time to adapt to the conditions,” Chippa United coach Roger Sikhakhane told reporters on Tuesday.
“It seems the plan is working for us because on Monday some of the guys struggled in the heat but yesterday they looked fine. I’m confident we’ll be able to compete with the conditions in the game,” he said.
But the club have had something of a scoring crisis with just one goal in the play-offs so far and must do without the injured Joshua Sauls on Wednesday.
They scored against Thanda Royal Zulu at home in a 1-1 draw but failed to find the net against Santos in a goalless tie.
Thanda have four points from three matches, including a surprise away win over Santos at the weekend. This is their last game of the play-offs.
