South Africa DStv Premiership side Royal AM’s Malawian head coach John Maduka has described the thought of surviving relegation through playoffs as scary.
Royal are 14th on the table with 30 points from 29 matches and desperately need a minimum of one point against Gabadinho Mhango’s Moroka Swallows this afternoon if they are to avoid fighting to retain their place in the top flight through playoffs against lower division teams.
Maduka has endured tough times after being forced to stretch his squad due to a Fifa transfer ban that saw him failing to sign any player throughout the season.
“It is not easy to keep the players motivated for games at hand, all the while keeping them prepared for the play-offs, especially when you only have these players that you rely on week in, week out.
“The big challenge is that these players are, at the same time, not seasoned players like your Thabo Matlabas, who have been there, doing it week in, week out for years, who are used to playing regularly,” he told msn.com.
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Maduka said most of his charges are only used to playing about six, seven or eight games in a season and it was not easy to stretch their endurance.
“This season they were stretched to play more games. That is why you will find that it is more difficult for them, especially now at the end of the season. They are simply just not used to playing so many games like this.
“There is nothing that we can do about it. But we talked with the players that if there is something we would not want to do, is to go to the play-offs,” the former Malawi National Football Team captain told the online publication.
His concerns could be genuine considering that cross-town rivals Maritzburg United lost their top-flight status in the play-offs after being toppled by Cape Town Spurs last year.
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Maduka said playoffs take a lot from teams, giving the example of Spurs who are now relegated after earning promotion through playoffs.
“They were not a bad team. But after they came out of the playoffs and started the Premiership, it became not so easy for them. They were doing it with the same players that were not used to playing at the top level week in, week out.
“So should we go there, it is going to be very, very difficult for us. It is still in our hands… We still have a game to play. It is a difficult game of course but we must win it–it is still in our hands,” msn.com quoted him as saying.
Victory or a stalemate for Royal would be bad news for Richards Bay who have Malawian striker Khuda Muyaba.
Bay lie 15th on the table with 27 points and also need to win against second-placed Stellenbosch this afternoon.
However, Bay will still be relegated to the playoffs should Royal win or draw. It is only Royal’s loss that can guarantee Bay another year in the elite league should they beat Stellenbosch.
