Two seasons ago, Bush Bucks needed the points in their last match of the campaign to stay up but Kaizer Chiefs were less sympathetic as they booted Imbabala out with a 1-1 draw. Amakhosi didn’t really need the points on that occasion as they finished a distant sixth with Orlando Pirates taking the honours.

Now the tides have turned around as Bucks lie in wait for Amakhosi at EPRFU Stadium in PE on Saturday at 19:30. Chiefs need the points to stay in contention and Bucks could hold the key.

Defeat will seriously curtail Amakhosi’s title charge, as they will need to win their remaining two matches against SuperSport United and Bloemfontein Celtic and hope Bucks do them a favour by beating Pirates on the last day of the season. Chiefs would then retain the championship by virtue of a superior goal average.

Amakhosi assistant coach Farouk Khan believes it will be vital for the Glamour Boys to seize control of the match as early as possible t ward off any potential resistance from their hosts.

"We are not trying to cause any panic by doing extraordinary things. Our preparations on track, we always expect every game to be like a cup final. As you know whoever plays Kaizer Chiefs they normally raise their game to a different level. I think Bush Bucks will be no exception," said Khan.

Bucks, who were over a month ago condemned to relegation by many soccer pundits, staged a dramatic fight-back to move away from the relegation dogfight. Mlungisi “Professor” Ngubane’s arrival at East London appeared to be just the right tonic to whip Bucks into shape and they are now in a strong position to even finishing in the top-eight.

"Professor (Mlungisi Ngubane) has really done very well and I think he has motivated the players to playing the brand of football that they are capable of. When we played to a draw against them at home we realised they are a team that can cause upsets. It’s not surprising to me that they are doing so well at the moment," Khan said.

Chiefs go into this with a major defensive concern after Cyril Nzama’s season was curtailed by a long-term injury on the Soweto Derby two weeks ago. “All the major concerns in our have been addressed with the exception of Cyril (Nzama), as you know he’s going to be out for a while. All the other injuries have been taken care of,” said Khan.

But defence will not be the only worry for Chiefs. They go to the Eastern Province Rugby Football Union grounds knowing that anything less that maximum points will give the advantage to leaders Orlando Pirates, who already enjoy a six-point lead over Amakhosi.

"It’s always going to be difficult playing catch-up. Games in hand means nothing as opposed to having points in the bag. That will cause a bit of anxiety. If we score early in any of our remaining matches, we will definitely have the upper hand. The important thing, as you saw against Swallows, the team that scores first find it a little bit easy to control the game.

"While there’s that anxiety at the back of their minds, we cannot afford to draw and we can’t afford to lose. We are definitely still on track for the championship. We are a team with a never-say-die attitude. I think where there’s life there’s hope and I think there’s still a lot of life left and we will go with that," Khan said.

Zambian prolific striker Collins Mbesuma has been true to his promise of a goals flurry, other Amakhosi strikers did not really come to the party. Mbesuma is the club and overall league leading scorer with 21 league goals. His closest rival at Chiefs and strike partner David Radebe has only scored a paltry six goals. But, while not scoring goals, Radebe has been credited for creating opportunities for Mbesuma.

"Obviously not scoring enough goals and wasting opportunities has been a problem throughout the season. There are games that we could have easily won by three to five goals only to lose vital points. You look at the games we drew at home.

"It’s a huge setback to have drawn those games. You talk about Cosmos, Bush Bucks, Dynamos and other matches where we dropped points, if you take any of those three matches and accumulate six points, we wouldn’t be in this situation. We would already be on par with Pirates and on our way to winning the league," said Khan.