Cape Town Spurs coach Ernst Middendorp admits his side will be relegated from the DStv Premiership if they can’t beat Richards Bay on Friday.
Middendorp’s team are bottom of the standings, with 12 points separating them from the Natal Rich Boys in 15th place.
Spurs have recoded just three wins all season, from their 24 games and are running out of time to save their status.
While the club’s first win was a 2-1 defeat of Orlando Pirates back in November, there was some hope of a survival bid when Spurs overcame TS Galaxy in March, ahead of successive draws with Pirates and Stellenbosch.
But the club have since gone four games without a point to leave them all but down with still 18 points to fight for.
And while they went down 1-0 to Sekhukhune United at the weekend, Richards Bay managed a 1-0 win over Kaizer Chiefs.
Spurs face Vusumuzi Vilakazi’s charges at Athlone Stadium and Middendorp insists this game will decide his teams’ fate.
He said on iDiski Times: “Depends on next Friday evening.
“If we are not winning on Friday evening then we can close the book, that’s the reality.
“You have to win this game, you have to make three points, simple, easy. That’s what it is.
“How you do it, it doesn’t matter 1-0 or something like that.”