Supersport United hang by a thread

New Supersport United coach Eric Tinkler has made it clear he would like to be able to challenge for African honours later this year as his club go into their penultimate group game in the African Confederation Cup staring at the possibility of elimination.

But it is out of his hands. Tinkler is not taking over the team officially until after the group phase ends next weekend and it is assistant coach Kaitano Tembo who has travelled with the side to Guinea for tomorrow's group game against Horoya.

A home win will put Horoya through and leave Supersport effectively out.

A draw would leave Supersport mathematically still in the race, but effectively condemned to finishing outside the top two, while an away win looks the only real option for the club.

But there are questions about whether they have come off the clouds after the euphoria of their Nedbank Cup win over Orlando Pirates last Saturday. The continental campaign has been seen as something of a distraction, although it did well to keep Supersport's players match-ready in the month's hiatus between the end of the PSL campaign and the cup final in Durban last weekend.

Horoya held Supersport to a 2-2 draw at the start of the group phase but did not look to be anything special. But home advantage in West Africa is usually a big factor.

The game is M5 in the Soccer 6 pool of the weekend. Others:

• M1 Ferroviario Beira v Etoile Sahel: The Mozambican club might be rookies in the group phase of the African Champions League, but they are still in with a chance of graduating to the quarter-finals if they beat the Tunisian club, who are unbeaten and top the Group A standings.
• M2 St George v Mamelodi Sundowns: A home win for the Ethiopian club, also playing in the group phase of the Champions League for the first time, will see them through to the last eight, even if they end on the same number of points as Sundowns when the group is completed. Sundowns must avoid defeat to keep up their hopes of successfully defending their title.
• M3 Zanaco v Al Ahly: Zanaco will clinch top spot in Group D of the Champions League if they win this clash. They sit on 10 points from four games, three ahead of the Egyptian giants, who are in second place.
• M4 Coton Sport v Wydad Casablanca: The Cameroon champions have lost all four of their Group D games and are out of the running, but Wydad can still make the Champions League last eight, but need an away victory.
• M6 AS Vita Club v Esperance: The Congolese club still have an outside chance of advancing in the Champions League after registering a first win in their last match, but must beat Esperance. If not, the Tunisian side will be sure to go to the quarterfinals.