Chiefs stand between Swallows and relegation

Baroka FC, Swallows FC, TS Galaxy and Maritzburg United all face relegation to the National First Division (NFD) going into the final day of the Premier Soccer League (PSL) season on Saturday.

They are staring down the barrel, but fourth-from-bottom Maritzburg have a slight advantage as they have two games in hand, which should help them avoid being sucked into the promotion and relegation playoffs.

Swallows coach Dylan Kerr said they simply have to beat Kaizer Chiefs at the FNB Stadium to stand any chance of avoiding automatic relegation.

“We need to beat Kaizer Chiefs, and Chiefs also need to win to possibly finish second or third, so the permutations are horrendous,” Kerr said.

If Swallows fail to get all three points from Chiefs and Baroka pull off a win over Maritzburg in Pietermaritzburg, Swallows will return to the NFD.

“You can’t write Baroka off — they are going to be in high spirits against Maritzburg after their result last week, when they beat SuperSport United 3-1 at home. TS Galaxy need to win against Chippa United who are safe from relegation,” Kerr said.

The Birds are in the undesirable situation of relying on other results for safety because his attackers had been poor in front of goal, he said.

“We have not converted our chances and are facing the biggest challenge because we have to rely on other results. But, we will focus on ourselves first and look at others afterwards.

“Everybody knows where we are and why we are there. To put it into context, the football we are playing is probably the best in the PSL at the moment.

“Since I have been here, we have been our own worst enemy because we have not been able to win games. I am lost to say why because we are in this position as we have not been able to finish teams off,” Kerr said.

“It doesn’t matter how well you are playing or how dominant you are, if you can’t score a goal from 3m, then you deserve to be where you are. We have shot ourselves dead by not finishing easy chances.”