Black Leopards head coach Joel Masutha has picked two teams as firm favourites for automatic promotion to the Betway Premiership.
The race for promotion in the Motsepe Foundation Championship has intensified with just four matches remaining. Durban City FC made a strong statement in their promotion race after a 3-0 win over struggling Pretoria Callies on Friday.
Leopards, on the other hand, have been in superb form as they are unbeaten in seven games under Masutha. Masutha took over from Zeca Marques.
Clubs that are still in the race for promotion include Leopards, JDR Stars, Casric Stars, Kruger United, Orbit College FC and Baroka FC.
Durban City, at the summit of the second-tier league, are six points ahead of second-place Orbit, with Leopards occupying the third playoff spot in third.
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Masutha, who was in charge when Leopards gained promotion during the 2017/18 season, believes only Durban City and Orbit College will fight for automatic promotion, while the rest of the clubs will have to battle for the promotion playoffs.
“I think promotion is for Durban City and Orbit. With us, we are just trying to win as many games as we can. We are not even looking at the log, and we don’t want to know which position we are in right now. As a club, we are only interested in the next three points against Milford.”
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“Yes, it’s four games to go, but for me and the team…I believe in these boys. I can promise that we are going to fight.”
Masutha has also lauded the support from the Leopards faithful as they came out in numbers during their comeback from behind a 2-1 win against Highbury FC on Wednesday.
“They support us unconditionally, and they play a very big role. When the game was still at 1-0 seven minutes into the second-half, the noise they were making lifted us.”
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