Lamontville Golden Arrows interim coach Vusi Vilakazi has insisted his side need to beat Royal AM in the KZN Derby in order to finish inside the top 8.
The Arrows interim coach was appointed at the end of March alongside Mabhuti Khenyeza after the sacking of coach Lehlohonolo Seema.
Vilakazi and Khenyeza hit the road running with a goalless draw against Sekhukhune United, after that they picked up maximum points against Kaizer Chiefs, which gave them chances of finishing in the top eight.
The coaching duo, though, suffered their first defeat at the hands of relegation-threatened side Baroka FC before sharing the spoils with Marumo Gallants in a goalless draw.
The KZN-based side are coming to Saturday’s encounter after a two-match winless run and Vilakazi explained that it won’t be an easy game as they facing third-placed Royal AM who suffered a defeat against Maritzburg United in their last outing.
“Our game against Royal AM is not gonna be an easy game considering the fact that we are a playing a Derby,” he told the club’s media team.
“And obviously in the first round we played a draw against them and I think it’s gonna be a different ball game come on Saturday because we need these three points in order to find ourselves in the top eight.
“So it’s gonna be a very serious assignment for us to make things happen and get that three points. Obviously we know that we are not playing an easy team, it’s gonna be very difficult one. We’ll have to work very hard in order to be victorious on the day, but we know we playing with a side that is very quick adding numbers going forward, always trying to create that numeric advantage.
“They are very good with transition especially from defence to attack, they do that with flying colors but we will need to contain them, try to deal with that and then also try to capitalise on their weakness because defensively they not one of the best so we are also good in transition.
“We will have to capitalise on that but it’s not gonna be an easy game. One will need to work very hard on the day in order to be victorious so we will try our level best to compete, there’s a very thin line between us and top eight so we will have to work very hard.
“I think we need it more than them so we must show on the day that we want it and we need this three points to secure the spot in the top eight, so it’s gonna be an interesting game.”
Abafana Bes’thende is sitting just outside the top eight one point behind eighth-placed SuperSport United and four points away from their rivals AmaZulu FC while Thwihli Thwahla is sitting third chasing the second spot, just three points behind Cape Town City.
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