Richards Bay aim to inflict more pain on wounded Kaizer Chiefs

Richards Bay FC co-coach Papi Zothwane is positive they will hand Kaizer Chiefs a third successive Betway Premiership defeat when the two sides meet at a sold-out Richards Bay Stadium on Tuesday (7.30pm).

Chiefs’ fading title hopes, which had always been a long shot, were dealt a double blow with their 2-1 midweek defeat against Stellenbosch FC and then a demoralising 3-0 capitulation against Orlando Pirates in Saturday’s Soweto derby, also at FNB Stadium.

Amakhosi (30 points from 17 games) have dropped to fifth place, 11 points behind leaders Orlando Pirates (41 from 17) and face a battle getting back into the competitive race for a top-three finish.

Bay, needing points in 12th place (they have 20 from 18 games) to keep themselves above the relegation battle, will be going for a victory on home ground.

“We are very confident we can get points from Chiefs though we are expecting a difficult match, especially because we don’t know which starting XI will pitch after their loss against Pirates,” Zothwane said on Monday.

“We are ready and we want to go to 23 points and boost our survival hopes.”

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The Bay coach said their preparations have not been smooth, having drawn 0-0 against Orbit College FC in Rustenburg on Saturday.

“The preparations for the Chiefs game haven’t been the best [in terms of] of travelling. Yesterday [Sunday] we were traveling and today [Monday] it’s only recovery,” Zothwane bemoaned.

The former Bafana Bafana player expects Amakhosi to come into Tuesday night’s game with a burning desire to bounce back.

“We are playing against a very big team that has lost two games in a row. Obviously they will want to bounce back, but we won’t allow them to bounce back at our expense.

“We haven’t won at home since December when we beat AmaZulu, so we want to win and make our supporters happy.”

Chiefs will be without suspended defender Zitha Kwinika, with Inacio Miguel and Aden McCarthy expected to partner in the heart of defence, while Bradley Cross could start at left-back.