Comitis banking on strength in depth
"We don't have a B team, so it will be the A team to travel to Cameroon and the A-plus team to take on AmaZulu."
That's the word from the desk of Ajax Cape Town boss John Comitis as his charges prepare for a season-defining period in local football.
The ambitious Urban Warriors face AmaZulu in a crucial Absa Premiership match at Athlone Stadium on Wednesday night and then fly out for the weekend's Caf Cup second round return leg against Mount Cameroon before coming home for next Thursday's mouth-watering Cape derby against Santos.
Comitis is banking on his club's player strength and offers no excuses in advance should things go awry.
"The youngsters and the fringe players will go to Cameroon. A 5-1 lead from the first leg should surely be enough to help them return victorious," he said on Monday.
"We are a big club now and we have to think big," added the Ajax chairman, presumably a reference to the multi-million-rand sponsorship deal recently struck with MTN. "We will field our strongest available line-up against AmaZulu and obviously against Santos because those are must-win fixtures.
He added: "I am happy with the strength in depth, and there are no excuses not to go out and achieve our objective."
A-list players Nathan Paulse, Bryce Moon and Mkhanyiseli Siwahla return from injury and suspensions to provide the thrills and spills in the home team's exciting offensive.
Moon suffered a bad knock at a bad time, so the speedy winger would be eager for extended game time to help secure a lucrative move to Greek giants Panathinaikos.
Ajax will conclude their league championship challenge with an away clash with Golden Arrows. SuperSport United currently lead them by a point, but the Cape side enjoy a valuable advantage in the goal stakes should they find themselves level on points at the end of the race.
"We must focus on winning our last three matches and thereby keep the pressure on United. The more we win, the more they have to win if they want to become the champions."
Will AmaZulu be up for a toe-to-toe battle, though? After a topsy-turvy campaign, the KwaZulu-Natal strugglers are now assured of their place in the top flight for next season, and seeing that Clive Barker's boys lost 1-0 to Mamelodi Sundowns in Sunday's second semifinal of the lucrative Nedbank Cup, they have nothing much but pride to play for at Athlone.
"That's a dangerous assumption," warned Comitis. "They would want to boast about having a say in the destination of the (league) trophy). It's just the nature of sportspeople."
Meanwhile, neighbours Santos have not given up on their own chances of sneaking a surprise championship win. They face a tricky hurdle in Sunday's away match against Thanda Royal Zulu who, like AmaZulu, are finally safe from relegation following a frustrating season.
Santos are four points off the championship pace, so they are very much still in the running for the coveted prize.
Coach David Bright can point to a long unbeaten run in the league since a 4-1 hammering from Free State Stars in his first match in charge, but will rue his club's four draws in their past six outings should they lose the title by a solitary point or, worse still, due to an inferior goal difference.
Bright will be hoping for a return to full fitness of star striker Erwin Isaacs, who was rushed back from injury, but failed to impress in a 0-0 draw with SuperSport last time out.
In tandem with the hard-running Eleazar Rodgers, Isaacs gives Bright a whole lot more options going forward - and thus more hope of barging their way to the top.