Innocent Kurira
TRIANGLE United coach, John Nyikadzino, is confident his team will survive relegation although, as things stand, there seems to be no light at the end of the tunnel.
The Lowveld outfit was beaten 2-0 by Bulawayo Chiefs on Sunday, leaving them on position 16th on the Castle Lager Premier Soccer league table with two games left to play.
Four teams, on the 18-team table, will be relegated at the end of the season.
Already, Cranborne Bullets have been demoted and three more teams are set to join them.
Black Rhinos, Triangle and Sheasham occupy the other three relegation slots.
Mathematically, eight teams are not safe from the chop with six points left to play for.
Greenfuel, Simba Bhora, Bulawayo Chiefs, Yadah Stars and ZPC Kariba are all still within reach of the bottom three sides, excluding Cranborne Bullets.
With that into consideration, the relegation battle is certainly going down to the wire as all of the mentioned teams can find themselves playing Division One football next year.
They have all played the same number of games which helps keep things neat as well.
Nyikadzino knows his team is in trouble but remains optimistic they will pull off a great escape.
“It’s still game on. We have to soldier on and try to get maximum points and see what happens. The objective is we are going to survive. We are playing CAPS United next.
“They are a good side but we are fighting for our lives.
“I think CAPS United is now safe so we have to fight more than CAPS United.
“We have to respond especially if we are playing at home. As we speak right now our fate is no longer in our hands as we have to rely on what other teams would have done.
“We are on life support but we need to respond,” said Nyikadzino.
He has only been in charge of the team in the last two games following the departure of Thulani Sibanda as head coach.
He won his first game in charge by defeating Highlanders 1-0 before the recent loss to Bulawayo Chiefs.
“It’s a bit too late to be trying out combinations and introducing a new philosophy. Right now, it’s all about grinding results,” said Nyikadzino.
Triangle are the only side in the league yet to pick up three points playing away from home.
They have amassed 34 points from 32 games this season, winning just six games and losing 10.
Triangle have the highest number of draws this season with 16.