Both teams are coming into this game off the back of goalless draws in their midweek league matches. Celtic played to a stalemate against Mamelodi Sundowns while Swallows finished deadlocked with Kaizer Chiefs.

Now with Etafia affirming, “We want to move as far up the log as possible”, it is vital that his side start stringing some wins together and they will have to start by beating Phunya Sele Sele on Sunday.

That, however, will be no easy feat as Celtic have proven to be a sound team this season and this was none more evident than when they held Sundowns to a 0-0 draw away from home. In that game Celtic produced a good all-round performance with their defence, in particular, shining the brightest.

Still, Etafia feels his side should not get ahead of themselves. “We are taking each game as it comes and we do not want to put any unnecessary pressure on ourselves. We will give our best in every game to earn as many points as possible.”

One man who plans on standing in the way of the Bird’s success this weekend is Phunya Sele Sele’s central defender, Gary Goldstone. “We plan on taking the game to Swallows. We are playing at home and we want to give our supporters something to cheer about,” says the hard-man.

When these two teams came face to face earlier in the season they played to a boring goalless draw, but that was not the case in the corresponding fixture last season when Celtic thrashed Swallows 4-1.

However, that is the last thing on the mind of Goldstone: “We are focusing on the game at hand. The ball is in our court now and we have to push till the end of the season to get as many points as possible. Our goal is to finish in the top six and we definitely have the talent to do so.”

At present Celtic are in seventh place with 35 points which is only two points behind the team above them who are Ajax Cape Town, so a top six finish is well within their reach.

The Birds, on the other hand, will look to maintain their spot in the top eight as they are currently placed eighth on 31 points. Swallows’ closest threat is Golden Arrows, who are only two points behind them. Therefore, neither team can afford to slip up.

And as Goldstone rightly says, “The team that makes the least mistakes will win, but being at home we will have the advantage.”