FOR Royal AM head coach John Maduka, the thought of going to the play-offs is a scary one.
You can hear it from the way the Malawian analyses his team’s chances going into the last two matches of the season.
The two recent league losses to champions Mamelodi Sundowns have kept Thwihli Thwahla just two points above similarly ill-fated KwaZulu-Natal neighbours Richards Bay.
However, Bay will go into the penultimate round of Premiership fixtures this weekend with a bounce in their step after beating Soweto giants Orlando Pirates last weekend.
The reality, though, is that the two KZN sides are the most likely to end up in the play-offs as they remain the only teams – other than already-relegated Cape Town Spurs – to go into the last two rounds with less than 30 points.
With 27 points, Bay travel to Cape Town City tomorrow (3pm kick-off) and welcome Stellenbosch FC on May 25, while Royal AM, with 29 points, welcome Chippa United tomorrow and finish the season at Moroka Swallows.
Maduka’s worry is warranted, given that he has had to stretch his players due to his side’s inability to sign others because of the Fifa transfer ban.
“It is not easy (to keep the players motivated for games at hand, all the while keeping them prepared for the play-offs), especially when you only have these players that you rely on (week in, week out),” he cried.
“The big challenge is that these players are, at the same time, not seasoned players like your Thabo Matlabas, who have been there, doing it week in, week out for years, who are used to that (playing regularly).
“Most of our players are only used to playing about six, seven or eight games in a season, and now (this season) they are stretched to play more games.
“That is why you will find that it is more difficult (for them), especially now at the end of the season.
“They are simply just not used to playing so many games like this. There is nothing that we can do (about it), but we were talking with the players that, (saying) if there is something we would not want to do, is to go to the play-offs.”
Maduka has even more reason to worry. The play-offs have proven to be a tricky route to maintaining their status for top-flight sides in recent years, with records and numbers making it an even scale.
Records show that there is an even split between lower-tier teams that have won promotion to the Premiership via the process and those from the top flight who have secured their survival.
🚨𝙂𝙀𝙏 𝙔𝙊𝙐𝙍 𝙏𝙄𝘾𝙆𝙀𝙏 𝙏𝙊𝘿𝘼𝙔🚨
— RoyalAM_FC (@RAMFC_sa) May 16, 2024
🆚 Chippa United F.C.
🗓️ 18 May
⏰ 3PM
🏟️ Haryy Gwala Stadium
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Royal AM’s cross-town rivals Maritzburg United are the latest side to lose their top-flight status in the play-offs, as they were toppled by Spurs last year.
“It (the play-offs) takes a lot from you (as a team). We saw with Cape Town Spurs: they were not a bad team, but after they came out of the play-offs and started the Premiership, it became not so easy for them,” Maduka said.
“They were doing it (playing in the Premiership) with the same players that were not used to playing (at the top level) week in, week out.
“So (should we go there), it is going to be very, very difficult for us. It is still in our hands ... We still have two games to play.
“They are difficult games, of course. We’ve got one against Chippa and we must win it – it is still in our hands.”