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Sikhumbuzo Moyo, Senior Sports Reporter

INCOMING Highlanders’ Dutch coach Hendriek Pieter de Jongh will be in the stands when the ailing giants collide with equally troubled city neighbours Bulawayo Chiefs in a Castle Lager Premier Soccer League match at Barbourfields Stadium this afternoon.

In the same fixture last year, Chiefs stunned Highlanders 1-0 through a 34th minute stunner by Gracious Muleya, while goalkeeper Ariel Sibanda saw red.

Chiefs are languishing in the relegation zone, while Bosso are precariously hovering just above the ‘death zone’.

Highlanders are in 13th position with 25 points, just a point above TelOne, who occupy the last relegation slot.

Chiefs are second from the bottom of the table with 21 points and will be out to build on their 2-0 win over Yadah to move up the ladder.

Outgoing Highlanders’ coach Mandla Mpofu, who will revert to being an assistant once the nomadic Dutchman gets his work permit, will want to vacate the seat on a high note by beating their noisy neighbours.

Bosso fans will be hoping that Zimbabwe’s leading goal scorer in the Chan qualifiers, Prince Dube, transforms his Warriors’ goal scoring prowess to the Bulawayo giants.

“We don’t know whether you are comfortable with this, but we have told Prince Dube we are the Warriors, and we are playing a Chan qualifier against Mauritius on Wednesday,” Bosso wrote on their official Twitter timeline in an apparent teaser to Bulawayo Chiefs.

Across town at Luveve Stadium, lethargic Chicken Inn take on Herentals, hoping to bounce back from their slump.

Had they been consistent in winning, the Gamecocks could be enjoying a healthy lead at the top of the league table, but yoyo-like performances have been their Achilles heel.