Sono confident of leading Cosmos to PSL promotion despite facing difficult odds

Jomo Sono continues to pronounce confidently on the promotion chances of his club back to the top-flight even if Cosmos find themselves down in 11th place in the National First Division standings‚ going into Wednesday’s key match against Black Leopards.

“I’m confident we’ll make it‚" said the Cosmos owner-coach.

"I’ve always been confident. Even when I got relegated I was confident! If I’m not confident then who is going to be?”

There are only nine points between third-placed Leopards and Cosmos‚ reflecting how open the race for a spot in the end-of-the-season promotion-relegation play-offs are.

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Thanda Royal Zulu are nine points clear at the top and set to clinch the title well before the end of the season and gain automatic promotion.

This leaves the rest of the NFD clubs to battle it out for the two slots in the play-offs where they take on the side that finished second from bottom in the Premier Soccer League.

But Cosmos‚ with seven games remaining‚ can catapult themselves back up the standings if they win in Wednesday afternoon’s game at Tsakane Stadium and then also triumph in their next two matches away in Cape Town against FC Cape Town and ailing Santos.

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“I rate Leopards as the best team in the NFD‚ so that is going to be a tough one for us.

"But we did well over the weekend against Chippa United in the Nedbank Cup.”

Cosmos lost 1-0 in their quarter-final tie at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth on Saturday.

• Four-goal Newcastle United romp back to Premier LeagueNewcastle United sparked a noisy promotion party by beating 10-man Preston North End 4-1 at a packed St James' Park on Monday to ensure a return to the Premier League at the first attempt. 

“I told my players if they play like that in the remaining seven games in the league we’ll go to the play-offs.

"I told them ‘heads up’ after the loss.

"They played according to our plans‚ they nullified key Chippa players and listened to instructions‚” Sono added.

 - TMG Digital/TMG Sport