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Ricky Zililo, Senior Sports Reporter
THE Southern Region could lose its stranglehold on the Premier Soccer League with three of their teams wallowing in the muddy relegation waters.

Four teams will be relegated from the Premiership at the end of the season and three of the bottom four clubs are from the Southern Region.

Bantu Rovers anchor the table, with Tsholotsho FC second from the bottom, while Hwange are in 16th place on the 18-team table. Shabanie Mine occupy the last relegation slot.

To survive the axe, the teams need to win their games and hope clubs above them do not pick any points.

They, however, all face tricky fixtures to save their topflight slots and what could inspire their players to fight till the last whistle of the season is the prospect of attracting interest from stable teams by giving their best.

The bottom three sides have tough weekend fixtures.

Rovers are away to Yadah FC tomorrow, hoping to complete a double over a side they clobbered 7-2 in the first round played at Luveve Stadium.

Since that victory, Rovers have lost strikers Bukhosi “Zakhu” Sibanda, Obrey Chirinda and Newman Siantshali, who all scored during that encounter.

Sibanda and Chirinda are at Ubuntu Cape Town in the South African National First Division, while Siantshali joined Bulawayo City.

Rovers’ captain Kudzaishe Dzingwe  (18) says they are ready for Yadah and believes the first round results won’t matter in tomorrow’s encounter.

“We take each game as it comes and for us the focus is to improve or work on our last match’s shortcomings. We won the first leg, celebrated that victory, but it’s all under the bridge now as we are geared to tackle the new challenge. Everyone is looking forward to the game and wants to do well. We’re a group of fighters, and fighting is what we’re going to do,” said Dzingwe.

Rovers travel to Harare smarting from a 1-3 home loss to How Mine, while Yadah will be hoping to recover from a 2-0 defeat against Dynamos.

Rovers need Dzingwe, goalkeeper Wellington Muuya, defence trio of Shadreck Nyahwa, Dumisani Ndlovu and Lindelani Ncube as well as midfield quartet of Munyaradzi Chitambwe, Lucky Ndlela, Remmington Masuku, and Pride Zivengwa to be at their best for them to pick up points.

Nigel Papias and McCarthy Dube will lead their attack.

Tsholotsho will be looking for a third consecutive win when they face Harare City, who lost 1-2 to ZPC Kariba in their last outing.

Tsholotsho beat Highlanders 1-0 a fortnight ago and followed that up with a 2-1 win over Shabanie Mine, and will be hoping to add Harare City to their casualty list.

Third from bottom side Hwange entertain title chasing FC Platinum smarting from a 0-1 defeat against Chicken Inn.

Hwange coach Bigboy Mawiwi will be hoping to maintain his winning home record since taking over in July.

Mawiwi has been in charge of two games in Hwange, beating Tsholotsho 4-0 and Chapungu 2-0. The coalminers will be aiming to claim the platinum miners’ scalp.

Meanwhile, Shabanie Mine, who occupy the last relegation spot, are at home to second-placed Ngezi Platinum Stars, with the Zvishavane side out to end a six-match winless streak. Shabanie’s last victory was on July 8 when they beat Yadah 2-0 in Harare.

That was followed by a 0-0 draw against Caps United before losing five matches on the trot to Highlanders, Bulawayo City, Harare City, ZPC Kariba and Tsholotsho.

Fixtures

Tomorrow: Yadah FC v Bantu Rovers (Morris), *Bulawayo City v ZPC Kariba (White City/Hartsfield, 1PM), *How Mine v Chicken Inn (White City/Hartsfield, 3PM), Harare City v Tsholotsho FC (Rufaro, 1PM, SuperSport), Black Rhinos v Triangle United (Rufaro, 3PM, SuperSport)

Sunday: Caps United v Dynamos (National Sports Stadium, 3PM, SuperSport), *Highlanders v Chapungu (White City/Hartsfield), Hwange v FC Platinum (Colliery), Shabanie Mine v Ngezi Platinum (Maglas)

*Subject to venue confirmation
— @ZililoR