Santos will look to further establish themselves in the top half of the Absa Premiership table when they take on Mpumalanga Black Aces in a league match at the Coetzenburg Stadium on Friday evening (kick-off 8pm).

'The People's Team' have been in some decent form of late, going unbeaten in their last three league fixtures, managing two draws and one win.

Their most impressive display this season came in their last fixture against Platinum Stars. In that match, they were deadly in front of goal, winning 2-0 to notch up their third win of the season.

Now, Santos will come up against one of the PSL's newcomers in Black Aces. The Mpumalanga side have acquitted themselves quite well in the campaign thus far and are on a high at present after a 2-0 win over AmaZulu in their last league match.

"Aces are a good side who have won their last game convincingly. They have experienced players who have a game plan that is hard to read or predict, thus making it difficult to predict a score or result," Santos coach Boebie Solomons told the club's official website.

"However we are looking for consistency in form and an improved performance," he added.

Presently, three points and six places separate the two teams on the league table. Santos are in fifth position on 12 points whereas Aces are in 11th spot on nine points.

In five official league meetings, Santos have never managed a win over Aces. The Mpumalanga side has beaten 'The People's Team' on three occasions.

The last time the two teams met in an official match was way back in 1993. That season, they met on three occasions, twice in the league and once in the BP Top 8. Aces won two of those games and drew one league match.