This was a brave statement by the club’s head coach, Aki Ayiomamitis ahead of their last six league matches, with the first one at home (Pumas Rugby Stadium) on Wednesday night to BidVest Wits University.

Aces are currently lying 15th with 19 points while Jomo Cosmos, their main threat as they are heavily breathing behind them in 16th position, with the same number of points.

"Things are very tough for us, but we have huge followers and the province of Mpumalanga to please by not going down to relegation. That is the reason my boys have promised to die in the field of play to avoid an automatic relegation, or to participate in the demanding relegation/promotion play-offs at the end of the season. We have made a collective commitment to treat each and every match like a cup final," said Ayiomamitis who took over Aces’ hot seat from Sammy Troughton three months ago.

AmaZayoni welcome the Clever Boys highly motivated after they became the first club to break the Students unbeaten record with a 1-0 victory, and they will be hoping to prove that their first round victory was no fluke, while at the same time improve their chances of avoiding the drop.

"The gap between us and clubs such as Wits, AmaZulu and Free State Stars who are currently lying between the 12th and 14th positions with 26 points is not that bad, and we need just one victory to bring back the morale in the team before we could catch up with them. The crucial game against Wits should be our starting point," added Ayiomamitis.

Despite losing their last two matches before the festive season break, 2-1 at home and 3-0 away to SuperSport United, Aces players have shown enough mettle and capability with a 1-0 away victory against Platinum Stars and a 1-1 draw against the dangerous Orlando Pirates.

The club’s leading goal-scorer, Clifford Mulenga (seven goals) who orchestrated Wits’ downfall when they beat them 1-0 in the first round and two fellow strikers, Mpho Maleka and Darrel Smith remain Ayiomamitis’ hope for goals against the visiting Students come Wednesday night.

The Clever Boys, though, could yet be drawn into the relegation quagmire if they don’t improve the form that sees them placed 12th on the log. They are seven points clear of the bottom two but that can change very quickly.

Aces have been very busy in the mini AFCON break and have played a heap of "quality" friendlies in order to remain focussed for their last 6 games.

Mentally the squad is in good shape and the Aces players all welcomed a team building lunch last Friday.

There is a special bond that exists between both the players and supporters - and the players have ALL vowed to bond as a tribe against their opposition.

Aces’ next match after Wits will be away to AmaZulu on Sunday, February 7 at the Moses Mabhida Stadium.

Head-to-Head Stats

1985 Wits 3 (No scorers available) Aces 1 (Hlakudi) Aces 4 (Cooke 4) Wits 2 (No scorers available)

1986 Aces 1 (Msibi) Wits 3 (McGrellis 2 Lambert) Wits 1 (McGrellis) Aces 1 (Ngobe)

1987 Wits 4 (Moosa, Freilick 2, Ilic) Aces 1 (Speak) Aces 0 Wits 0 JPS Knockout Cup 1st Rd – Wits 2 (Gordon 2) Aces 1 (Mothogoane)

1988 Aces 1 (Ngobe) Wits 1 (Mudie) Wits 3 (Rowbotham, Frielick, Mudie (pen)) Aces 1 (Nxumalo (pen)

1989 Wits 1 (Boyle) Aces 1 (Shusha) Aces 0 Wits 0

1990 Wits 1 (Tinkler) Aces 1 (Mabena) Aces 2 (Gordon (og), Mabena) Wits 0

1991 Wits 1 (Mills) Aces 0 Aces 0 Wits 2 (Mudie, Gordon)

1992 Aces 2 (S.Mahlangu, Chitja) Wits 2 (Zwane, Rowbotham) Wits 1 (Hannan) Aces 0

1993 Wits 4 (Hannan, Batchelor, Barker, Du Pont) Aces 1 (Mabusela) Aces 1 (Shili) Wits 1 (Hannan)

1994 Aces 1 (Shili) Wits 3 (Otiti 2, Simunji) Wits 2 (Otiti 2) Aces 1 (Shili)

1995 Aces 0 Wits 1 (Du Pont) Wits 2 (Ewen, Otiti) Aces 1 (Shili)

1996 Aces 0 Wits 0 1996/97 Wits 3 (N.Winstanley, N’Gandu 2) Aces 1 (Bang-Penda) Aces 0 Wits 1 (N’Gandu)

2009/10 Wits 0 Aces 1 (Mulenga)

Additional reporting by Backpagepix
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