Richards Bay FC co-coach Ronnie Gabriel has revealed a goal they hope to accomplish during the period leading up to the AFCON break, which will take place in December and January.
The continental showpiece will be hosted by Morocco this time around starting from 21 December 2025 and ending on 18 January 2026.
To align with the tournament schedule, football leagues across the continent, such as the Betway Premiership, had to revise their calendars. As a result, teams will face a challenging period with games coming in quick succession.
The Natal Rich Boyz coach, Gabriel says their objective in the next four months is to accumulate as many points as possible to enter the AFCON break without pressure. He stated that they want to be, at a minimum, in the middle of the table by then.
GABRIEL ON RICHARDS BAY TARGET FOR MIDSEASON
“For now, we just want to consolidate the team, we want to be in a respectable position going into that [AFCON] break,” said Gabriel.
“So, it won’t give us the pressure when we come back to scramble for points. So, we want to start picking up points consistently now.
“Mid-table should be fine. Obviously, we had a bad start to the season and with first three games not going our way, we had to re-adjust our thinking capacity and think about realistic targets and figure out where we want to be.
“So, mid-table and being in the comfortable position will be okay for us.”
The KZN team had a difficult start to the 2025/26 season, losing four consecutive matches – three in the Betway Premiership and one in the MTN8.
Their losing streak ended on Wednesday with a 1-0 victory against Chippa United, marking their first win of the season. The team will look to build on this momentum when they play Siwelele FC this Friday, August 29, at the Dr Petrus Molemela Stadium in Bloemfontein.
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