Ajax Cape Town face Highlands Park tonight (7pm) and let me be brutally honest, they really can’t afford anything but a win.
Ajax have 22 points and a win could take them right back into the mix for the top eight.
BUT the reality is that Ajax are closer to the relegation zone than the top eight.
Only two points separate them from tonight’s opponents and, not to jinx it, but a win for the Lions of the North puts them in the safety spots.
That’s right, a defeat tonight could put Ajax in the relegation zone.
Let’s get the bad news all out of the way while we’re at it, if Baroka managed to beat Free State Stars last night and Ajax lose tonight, they will be only one point off the bottom spot.
ReIegation is a serious threat. I don’t see it happening but the fact is that it is a mathematical possibility.
How did they get here? Even the coach is asking this question.
The sad fact is the most newsworthy thing they have done recently is the human chain video that’s doing the rounds.
The Urban Warriors are the only club without a win this year with four draws and two defeats to show for 2017.
It was all so different at the tail end of last year. A month after Stanley Menzo arrived, Ajax hit a purple patch.
They won five games out of six before the end of 2016, beating Platinum Stars, Mamelodi Sundowns, Golden Arrows, Bloem Celtic and Chippa United.
But now they can’t seem to get it together and the problem is they’re falling short at both ends of the pitch.
They have kept one clean sheet this year, the 0-0 with SuperSport, and the last two games they conceded two including that late equaliser to Free State.
At least in that game they scored two goals for the first time this year.
The mentality and attitude needs a bit of a wake-up because if they do get dragged into a relegation scrap, they are going to need to fight.
And right now they may have the ability and the talent – we know that – but in a dogfight that can count for nothing.