Pitso Mosimane will walk into his next Saudi Pro League game with a feeling of the heat that comes from a blast furnace in what has been billed as a life-or-death contest.
Now back stuck on the relegation barbed wires, Mosimane has taken the trip to the south of Saudi Arabia faced with pulling a rare away win against fellow strugglers Al Akhdoud.
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Abha have not won a game in the Saudi Pro League since Christmas Day in 2022 (24 away games ago) but must now somehow find the winning formula again.
The task falls upon Mosimane, who is carrying hot coal on his hands.
With six games to play, Abha desperately need to get points against Al Akhdoud, which will then enhance their chances of keeping up with the two teams slightly above them, Al Tai and Al Riyadh.
It will not matter how the job gets done for Mosimane, but he needs all the points at the Prince Hathloul Bin Abdul Sport City Stadium in Najran on Saturday (17h00).
The Kagiso-born coach doesn’t need to soil his CV with an addition of relegation instead of the usual silverware and these are the games that his side will have to win.
Al-Tai lost on Thursday and so Abha will need all the points to get out of the drop zone heading into the last five games.
After Saturday’s match, three of the last five games will be at home for Abha, with the two away games being at Mosimane’s former employers Al Ahli Saudi and bottom-placed Al-Hazm.
The three home games are against Karim Benzema and N’Golo Kante’s Al Ittihad, Damak and Al Khaleej.
This is Mosimane’s first ever relegation rescue mission job and will come with top rewards if he saves Abha from the drop.
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Mosimane joined Abha at the beginning of the year on a deal running up to the end of the season on May 27.
The former Bafana Bafana coach has won three, drawn two and lost four, and will need a win in his 10th game in charge.
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