Assistant Royal Eagles coach Bafana Nhlapo is targeting twin wins from their remaining Premier Soccer League Promotion/Relegation Play-Off matches, starting with the game at Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila (TTM) on Saturday.
The Durban club began the mini-league competition with a narrow 1-0 win over the same opponents in Chatsworth, before losing by the same margin in match two at Maritzburg United last Sunday.
They are presently second on the standings, but a win over TTM in Thohoyandou will draw them level on six points with the Team of Choice at the summit. Nhlapo says they have no choice but to win in Venda.
Should they manage to win in Limpopo, Eagles will set up a thrilling climax to the play-offs next week.
They host the Team of Choice at the Chatsworth Stadium in midweek. Before that, however, they do need to do the business against a TTM side still searching for their first win of the competition.
The Durban side have not lost to them in their past five meetings, winning three of those clashes and Nhlapo is confident that good record will stand them in good stead on Saturday.
Nhlapo is set to be missing from the Eagles dugout for the game after he was red carded against Maritzburg last weekend.
He was one of two technical members to be sent to the stands by referee Victor Gomes, the other being general manager James Dlamini.
However, they will be boosted by the return of head coach Sazi Ngubane, who missed the last game as he was attending to a family bereavement.
Eagles also made several changes to their playing XI for that match at the Harry Gwala Stadium, but Nhlapo defended their selection policy.
One of their key players this season, midfielder Levy Mashiane, however, could return for this game.
The 23-year-old has missed the entire play-offs thus far due to a hip flexor strain and his absence has clearly been felt by the team.
Nhlapo hinted that the player could return in Thohoyandou, although he insisted that whether Mashiane was fit or not, Eagles needed to make sure they took their goalscoring chances. – Report by Thahir Asmal
