Black Leopards will be campaigning in the Absa Premiership Division come next season - that is if the words of the team’s new head coach, Mr Kostadin Papic, are anything to go by.

The Serbian national was unveiled as Lidoda Duvha’s new mentor last Friday. According to Papic his aim is to see the Thohoyandou side returning to the elite league at the end of this season. He reiterated the fact that he wanted to see Leopards gaining automatic promotion to the elite division when the league activities for the current season came to an end. He is not keen for the team to try their luck in the promotional play-offs like it was the case in the previous two seasons.

Papic admitted, however, that although gaining automatic promotion was still possible, it would not be easy for them, considering the position in which they found themselves now on the log. They are lying on the eighth spot on the log with 14 points accumulated from 11 outings - ten points behind the logleaders, Baroka FC.

He appealed to the team’s fans to stop panicking, saying the days of losing home matches are over. Three of the five matches that Black Leopards had lost were home fixtures. They lost 0-2 to Cape Town All Stars, 2-3 to Mbombela United and 0-1 to Highlands Park at home while their away defeats were against Amazulu and Santos. Although he was announced as the team’s head coach last Friday, Papic could not sit on the team’s technical bench when his team beat Vasco da Gama, as he was still to update his work permit.

Black Leopards’ next fixture will be against Witbank Spurs, with whom they will fight for league points at the Puma Rugby Stadium in eMalahleni next Saturday, November 21.