Having suffered 11 matches in a row, Golden Arrows head coach Mabhuti Khenyeza has explained why he beholds his side’s rocky road as “abnormal”.
Nine out of 11 games they have lost are DStv Premiership matches while they were also knocked out in the first rounds of the Nedbank Cup and Carling Knockout Cup.
The Durban-based side was downed by Kaizer Chiefs on Wednesday in the league with a 1-0 scoreline courtesy of Wandile Duba’s solitary goal.
Speaking after the match, Khenyeza insisted that despite enduring a tough run, his troops have been performing well.
He feels their situation is “abnormal” because two wins from now would place them in a comfortable position on the log standings. Khenyeza believes that they have enough points to avoid dropping down to the relegation.
MABHUTI KHENYEZA BELIEVES GOLDEN ARROWS HAVE ENOUGH POINTS TO BE WORRIED ABOUT RELEGATION BATTLE
“If you can look, we are in an abnormal situation, if we win two games, we will be number four or five,” said Khenyeza.
“But we have lost how many games? 11 games, that’s why we keep on pushing these boys each and every time.
“Because it’s not like we don’t have points. We have points, now when you talk about other teams, they don’t have points those teams.
“They still need to fight and reach where we are. Us, we have something on our side. We need to make sure that we add up to the points we have.
“We’re still going to play these teams that are below us. They’re still going to play each other. Now, we don’t know what’s going to happen.
“But the focus is not about looking at what’s happening behind us. It’s about how we move ourselves the next step forward.”
Arrows gaffer is confident that there is still a possibility that they can finish the 2023/24 campaign within the top half of the table.
He hasn’t ruled out the top four finish or even securing a CAF competition spot.
‘…TOP EIGHT AGAIN, TOP FOUR OR CAF WE DON’T KNOW’
“We’re one point away from top eight, that’s what gives up courage and motivation that we need to keep on fighting,” he added.
“I think it’s the first time to experience something like this in the league. The team loses games like this but they’re still in the middle of the table.
“The most important thing is we’ve got points on our side. When the team goes to the relegation, I think last time when Maritzburg United went to playoffs had 23, 24 or 25 points.
“We’re on 23, we still have maybe 11 games. If we can draw all of them, how many points? 33. Top eight again, top four, CAF we don’t know.”
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