Now that Black Leopards are out of the Nedbank Cup competition, their focus is on the league title. This was confirmed by the team’s head coach, Mr Zeca Marques.

Leopards were booted out of the Nedbank Cup by Vasco da Gama, who beat them 3-2 at the Thohoyandou Stadium last Saturday. Marques confirmed that kissing goodbye to the Nedbank Cup was a bitter pill to swallow, saying his aim was to win the cup and promote the team to the Absa Premiership Division at the end of the season.

Saturday’s defeat was the first for Leopards under the guidance of Marques, who joined the club four months ago. He guided Leopards to 10 victories and a draw before losing last Saturday. According to him, they will now focus on the league title and put the Nedbank defeat out of their minds.

He reiterated the fact that they will make sure that they win all their remaining league matches and see how high they can go on the log standings. Lidoda Duvha are now lying in the fourth spot on the log, with Lamontville Golden Arrows, Jomo Cosmos and Thanda Royal Zulu above them.

Marques stated that his aim is to win an outright promotion as it is something that is still within their reach. Asked as to whether they were gearing up to take part in the promotional play-offs, he said that he would start to think about the promotional play-offs if they should fail to gain outright promotion at the end of the season.

Black Leopards still have five matches to play before the activities for the current season come to an end. They will travel to Thembisa, where they will lock horns with Highlandspark at the Makhulong Stadium tomorrow afternoon. Their other remaining matches are against Santos (home), Milano United (home), African Warriors (home) and FC Cape Town (away).