Swallows have to beat Chiefs: Kerr eyes ‘horrendous permutations’

Baroka FC, Swallows FC, TS Galaxy and Maritzburg United are all facing possible automatic relegation to the GladAfrica Championship going into the final day of the DStv Premiership season on Saturday.

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

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

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

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 GladAfrica, also known as the National First Division (NFD).

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

Kerr said the Birds are in the undesirable situation of relying on other results for safety because his attackers have been poor in front of goal.

“We have not converted our chances and we are facing the biggest challenge because we have to rely on or look at 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 is that 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 because we have not been able to finish teams off. It doesn’t matter how well you are playing or how dominant you are, if you can’t score a goal from three metres then you deserve to be where you are. We have shot ourselves dead by not finishing chances, and I mean easy chances.”

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