Chippa United will not be relegated, says coach Clinton Larsen

Chippa United coach Clinton Larsen believes his team are under no threat of being relegated from the Absa Premiership this season.

Larsen, who was speaking after the team’s 1-1 draw with Highlands Park on Sunday, said the Chilli Boys have improved under his watch and he promptly provided the stats to support his case.

“A lot people forget where we coming from, Larsen said. “We've now played seven [league] games and two cup games, nine games in total as a new group of coaches and players and we've only lost twice.

“So, let's look at the bigger picture and not just in isolation. Look how the team has improved from January until now. We were on 12 points, we are now on 21 in very short space of time. We've accumulated nine points in seven games and remember the previous coaches took 17 games to get only 12 points.

“So I think we on the right track. Yes, there are only six games left but I believe this team is in no danger of going down at all.”

The log brings its own set of facts to the table with Chippa lying in 14th position out of 16 teams. They are level with 15th-placed Baroka on 21 points and are only ahead due to a superior goal difference of one.

Larsen admitted the result against Highlands Park was not ideal but remains optimistic about the brand of soccer his team are playing.

“I thought it was frustrating. We really played well today. After 20 minutes when we changed and we brought [Mark] Mayambela on, I thought the game changed.

“We started to dominate them. Yes, we conceded early but I'm happy that we bounced straight back and got an early equaliser and thereafter it was all about us dominating the game.

“They are not an easy team to play against. There are a lot of long throw-ins, a lot of long balls into our box which we had to deal with. But there was only one team playing football here today and that was us.

“I'm happy with the performance, not happy with the result but coming off a loss it's a point that we'll take and build on.”

Larsen said it is critical for his team to go unbeaten through the remaining six league matches.

“What is important for us in our last six games is to make sure that we don't lose. If you can't win a game you got to draw it which we didn't do in our previous two games.”

Chippa now take a break from the league for the international window and next play Wits in the Nedbank Cup Last 8 in Johannesburg on March 30. Larsen is adamant his team has the ability to go all the way.

“Like I said before, it will be a great achievement to go all the way to the final. On our day, we can beat any team and we've proven it. You know we should have beaten SuperSport in East London. We should have beaten Black Leopards in Thohoyandou. We beat Sundowns.

“So that says a lot about our team, that we competitive and that's what we got to be believing in on March 30.

“Winning this cup means going to play in Africa. Chippa has never achieved that before. So winning the Nedbank Bank Cup puts you on another level where you can go an play continental competitions and that's something we want to try and achieve.”