Cape Town - Cape Town City will go head to head with Kaizer Chiefs in a DStv Premiership match at the iconic DHL Stadium on Tuesday (kick-off at 7:30pm).
The Citizens' poor start to the current league campaign continued when they drew 1-1 with Stellenbosch FC in the Cape Derby clash on Saturday as they let a one-goal lead slip.
The 2018 MTN8 champions remain at the bottom of the DStv Premiership standings with two points from five matches, but a win over Chiefs will see City climb out of the relegation zone.
Eric Tinkler, the City head coach, remains optimistic that his side will soon claim their first victory of the term and he also described their match against Chiefs as a 'must-win'.
"A win is what we desperately need. It is still early in the league. Go look at the league table - see what happens if we win two in a row. Everything changes," Tinkler said.
"They're small margins right now. I am not panicking and I am not going to put my players into panic mode. We go into the Chiefs game looking for a positive result, which is a win. And that is what we need right now, is a win.
"If you go into those games, saying, 'it's a must-win, it's a have-to win' and I apply all that pressure onto my staff and players, we ain't going to achieve nothing."
Meanwhile, Chiefs returned to winning ways in the Premiership when they secured a 1-0 win over Richards Bay at home with Dillon Solomons scoring the only goal of the match on Saturday.
The Glamour Boys are currently placed eighth on the league standings with six points from four matches, and a win over City would elevate Chiefs to the second spot if the other results go their way.
Arthur Zwane, the Chiefs coach, pointed out that they are expecting a difficult match against City and that they know what to expect from the Western Cape side.
"We are expecting another tough game. We will be playing against a team that is also very good on the ball. They always wait for the right moment to launch their attack," Zwane said.
"They drew [on Saturday, against Stellenbosch FC] and they are playing at home [again against Chiefs] so they are in a position where they have got the belief that they can claim maximum points because they are playing at home.
"We are going to have to manage our boys now because you could see Keagan (Dolly) was cramping, (Kgaogelo) Sekgota was cramping and Khama (Billiat) as well, we had to substitute him and save him for the next game because the games are coming thick and fast."
IOL Sport