Swallows coach Brandon Truter is eager to see his side battle the likes of Orlando Pirates for an available CAF spot.
With eight games to go before the season ends, the league is starting to shape up accordingly. Sundowns look set to defend their crown but the remaining top eight spots are still up for grabs.
Swallows and Pirates will face-off on Saturday evening in the DStv Premiership, with both sides intent on moving higher up the table. As it stands, Swallows are in fifth place with 37 points and only a point behind Pirates in fourth place. Just four points separate the Dube Birds from 2nd and 3rd place Golden Arrows and Amazulu respectively. All of that means there is still a whole lot to play for before the end of the season.
Truter says his side are eyeing either the CAF Champions League, which is automatically guaranteed if they come second or the Confederations Cup that goes to the team that finishes third on the log table.
“It will be a tough game, a tricky game. It’s Pirates, a massive team that can beat any team in SA as well. But the Soweto derby occasion will come into play, and I am hoping that motivates the players because having played Celtic 48 hours ago and then having to play again, fatigue comes in and we have to mindful of that,” Truter said.
“So putting the best team out is going to be a challenge in itself. You wouldn’t want to make too many changes. It’s our home game and they are coming to Dobsonville where we have an unbeaten record and hoping to maintain that. We will go with our strongest team and manage the game from the bench.”
Truter has seemingly overachieved by guiding a team that returned to the top flight this season after a five year hiatus.
“We want to try new things as well. But we have to be mindful that a place in Africa (CAF) is also up for grabs and that is now our motivation as well. I don’t see Sundowns (log leaders) losing three or four matches for anyone to catch them,” he concluded.
For Swallows, any hopes of securing a continental spot means they must start recording wins soon enough. The Dube Birds are unbeaten in their last five league outings but the only win in that run came against bottom-placed Black Leopards, with the rest ending in stalemates.