Travis Graham provides honest assessment of Maritzburg United situation

The Team of Choice, who have flirted with relegation on several occasions in the past, are now caught in the three-way PSL Promotion/Relegation play-offs alongside Cape Town Spurs and Casric Stars.

After surviving the automatic drop, their fate will ultimately be decided in the remaining two matches on Saturday and next week Wednesday, but Graham won't shy away from responsibility for their predicament.

"Ja, no, definitely, I think we are in this situation we are in because of ourselves. I think we had a lot of chances to get up on the [DStv Prem] table, but, unfortunately, we never took those opportunities," Graham told SABC Sport.

"So, just a little bit disappointed that we could have been safe at this time, but the situation is different and we've just got to stick our heads out of the ground and focus on trying to save the club."

Two games into the mini-league, Maritzburg have beaten Casric and lost to Spurs – something they didn't envisage against their two lower-division opponents.

"It was a setback [losing against Spurs], it wasn't according to our plan of how we wanted to approach the second game, but again, the reality is that we lost and we have to win our next two games," he added.

"Yes, it is a bit disappointing but we have to get up and continue to work hard and focus on getting the next win, and, yes, it's going to be difficult, but it's a job that we have to do."

The KwaZulu-Natal outfit will be watching on when the two promotion hopefuls face off at Athlone Stadium on Wednesday afternoon (15h00) before they travel to face Casric at Solomon Mahlangu Stadium in Mpumalanga on Saturday (15h00).

The final clash of the play-offs will then be contested between Maritzburg and Spurs at Harry Gwala Stadium next Wednesday, 14 June, in which next season's 16th DStv Premiership status will ultimately be confirmed.