Mpumalanga Black Aces will be looking to end a run of seven matches without a league win when they take on Ajax Cape Town at the Cape Town Stadium on Wednesday night.
Kick-off is at 7:30pm.
AmaZayoni’s run of poor league form has seen the club slipping down to 12th position, just four points clear of the relegation zone, and they head into the game against Ajax with only one point from their last three outings, which came via a 1-1 draw against bottom-of-the-table AmaZulu.
With a strong squad, full of internationals, it’s not a position Aces were expecting to find themselves in as the league enters the three-quarter mark.
According to AmaZayoni midfielder Aubrey Ngoma, it’s something the players are determined to rectify.
“We are desperate for three points because we are not in a good position on the log, and its building pressure on the team,” he said.
“It will be tough against Ajax, especially on their home turf. They have players that play carpet football, players full of energy.
“We need to stay disciplined when they have the ball, and we need to improve on defending as a unit.
"We don’t have problems going forward – we are always creating chances, but we have been too lenient at the back and have given away soft goals,” added Ngoma, who once scored four goals against Ajax while playing for AmaTuks.
While the likes of Ngoma, Doctor Mampuru, Clifford Ngobeni and Calvin Marlin are all back in the frame after recovering from their respective ailments, defenders Kwabena Adusei and Valery Nahayo, and forward Bongolwethu Jayiya have still been sidelined with injury of late.
The Cape Town team meanwhile have shown some improved form of late, having picked up six points from their last three league matches to move up to fifth spot.
Mid-season signings Erwin Isaacs and Toriq Losper have made a significant impact – both were on the score-sheet in the 2-1 win over SuperSport United last Saturday, and it’s an Ajax team who are looking to build up some steam as they head into the home stretch of the season.
There is certainly still room for improvement in an Urban Warriors side who have not been able to consistently play for 90 minutes at their optimum levels, even in their recent victories, but coach Roger De Sa has reason to feel optimistic against Aces. More so when taking into account that his team have already beaten the Mpumalanga outfit in the Mother City this season – 3-0 in the Telkom Knockout.
“We were pretty good on that day,” said De Sa. “I just hope that we can do the same really. I reminded the players, we went through some pointers of what we did (in the 3-0 win), hopefully we can do the same this time.
“Right now they (Aces) are probably looking over their shoulder a bit, worried about results. But we can’t think about that. We just have to focus on getting as close to the top four as possible.
"We are getting a little behind the top four, and it’s important that we try and stay in touch and look ahead, rather than behind,” said De Sa.
With the exception of Noah Sadaoui and possibly Robin Ngalande, Ajax have a clean bill of health for the match.
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