Cape Town City will look to put their Nedbank Cup disappointment behind them when they welcome Swallows to the DHL Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Kick-off is at 5.30pm CAT (SA, GMT+2)
The Citizens crashed out of the cup competition at the first hurdle after losing to Royal AM on penalties in the round of 32 last weekend.
Eric Tinkler's side had suffered back-to-back defeats against Stellenbosch (3-2) and SuperSport United (2-0) in the DStv Premiership prior to that, leaving them just two points clear of the relegation zone in 11th place.
City were unbeaten in four of their previous five matches, having beaten Thwihli Thwahla, Orlando PIrates and TS Galaxy since the league resumed on 30 December.
Tinkler has called for referees to be made fulltime professionals on the continent after he blamed the man with the whistle for his side's early cup exit at the hands of Royal AM.
"It's me who must deal with the repercussions. I have to first deal with the chairman because we lost and then I have to deal with the players... the disappointment from them," he said.
"People don't see that side... they just go and say 'oh no, they lost', but ja, how have we lost? People must start asking those questions. We need to be doing a lot, lot more when it comes to our officiating because it's costing coaches their livelihood because they are being judged on mistakes of referees."
The Dube Birds appear to be on the up under Ernst Middendorp, who has lost just three of his opening seven games at the helm against Mamelodi Sundowns, Richards Bay and Sekhukhune United.
Middendorp got revenge on the Natal Rich Boyz after guiding his team to a 1-0 victory on 3 February, which followed on from a hard-fought 0-0 draw against SuperSport United six days earlier.
The Soweto outfit climbed out of the drop zone as a result but they are still only three points clear of rock-bottom Marumo Gallants in 14th spot albeit with two games in hand.
Middendorp believes Swallows can beat the drop for a second consecutive season as long as they all remain on the same page for the rest of the season.
"That our main target, that was my main target going into Swallows. Position 13 or 14 at the end of the season is the minimum we have to achieve and I'm convinced if we get everybody in the right direction it will happen," the German said.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Cape Town City
Thato Mokeke: The 32-year-old defensive midfielder will be targeting an improved performance against Swallows after he was caught on the ball deep inside his own half by SuperSport which resulted in their opening goal on 17 minutes. Mokeke has missed just one game for City this season and featured the full 90 minutes on 11 occasions.
Darwin Gonzalez:The 27-year-old Venezuelan winger is another looking to do better than his last outing after somehow turning the ball into his own net in stoppage time as he attempted to clear the ball off the line but made a complete dash of it. Gonzalez has fared well at the other end of the pitch, contributing five goals and two assists in 19 appearances.
Swallows
Kagiso Malinga: He was handed his sixth consecutive league start by Middendorp a fortnight ago and repaid the manager's faith in him by scoring the winner against Richards Bay. It was only Malinga's second goal of the season and Swallows will be needing more contributions like that if they hope to avoid the drop.
Lindokuhle Mtshali: The 24-year-old attacking midfielder was one of four halftime substitutes made by Middendorp against Richards Bay and it was from his 81st-minute corner that Malinga headed home the winner. Mtshali registered his third assist of the season and will be hoping to have done enough to convince the coach to start him against City.