Swallows coach Brandon Truter believes defending champions Mamelodi Sundowns have the title within their reach but playing on the continent remains their own objective.
Swallows have secured their Premiership status already and a place in the top eight remains a possibility but with eight games left to be played, there is a chance to reach the continent for them.
The Cape Town-born tactician has conceded the league title to the unbeaten Brazilians, who have a six-point lead at the top of the table.
“We have to be mindful as well about that a place in Africa is also up for grabs,” Truter said in his latest media address.
“I don’t see Sundowns losing three or four matches for us to catch them or any other team to catch them for that matter but there is still a place up for grabs in Africa so we will look up to that as well. That is now our motivation as well.”
“The occasion of the Soweto derby will come into play and I am hoping that motivates the players. Having played Celtic 48 hours ago, the issue of fatigue does come in with knocks, while the other issue that we have to be mindful about is that putting the best eleven on the field will be a challenge itself. You would not want to make too many changes with your strongest XI and at the same time you want to put the best XI that is available for you on the park,” he noted.
“At least it is our home game. They are coming to Dobsonville and we still have our unbeaten record there, and we are hoping to maintain that. We will go with our strongest possible XI available to us and then from the bench we will manage the game from there, because that will play a role as well.
“The bench will be massive for us. The guys that will start – the same XI that started against Celtic – will only carry us so far and if you look at the Celtic game, the substitutes that came in didn’t impact the game that much, so we are looking at that and had a chat with the boys as well.”
On Saturday, Swallows are up against Orlando Pirates, another club in the run-in for Champions League football.