With CAF club competitions taking centre stage, the Absa Premiership's lesser lights have the country to themselves in what will be a crucial weekend for the mid-table teams.

At fifth place, Platinum Stars are five points off the top four, but a win at Maritzburg United tomorrow evening will leave them two points behind fourth-placed Kaizer Chiefs.

Stars have another chance to narrow the gap or even overtake Chiefs when the two sides meet but coach Cavin Johnson is not looking too far ahead.

"You find that when teams play Kaizer Chiefs, they always want to beat the champions and they tend to put in 110%. We tend to be the same but Maritz- burg are a different team and we need to treat them accordingly.

"They're struggling at the moment but one thing you can expect is a very good fight. However, we are prepared and we've prepared our players to be mentally strong," Johnson said.

Maritzburg will be keeping an eager eye on the happenings between Jomo Cosmos and Free State Stars in Potchefstroom tomorrow afternoon.

Sunday sees teams who are fighting for top- eight places meet in fixtures in Pretoria and Bloemfontein.

The weaker Tshwane sides - SuperSport United and the University of Pretoria - meet at the Lucas Moripe Stadium. SuperSport are looking for their first win under Stuart Baxter while AmaTuks are seeking to get out of the relegation scrap.

Inconsistent meets mercurial at the Petrus Molemela Stadium when Bloemfontein Celtic host Chippa United.

FIXTURES

Tomorrow:

Cosmos v FS Stars, Olen Park, 3.30pm; Polokwane City v Golden Arrows, Old Peter Mokaba Stadium, 6pm; Maritzburg v Platinum Stars, Harry Gwala Stadium, 8.15pm

Sunday:

SuperSport v University of Pretoria, Lucas Moripe Stadium, 3.30pm; Bloem Celtic v Chippa, Dr Molemela Stadium, 3.30pm