Vhadau Vha Damani are second from the bottom on the 16-clubs DStv Premiership table and are left with only six matches to save themselves.
Soweto giants Kaizer Chiefs, meanwhile, are also struggling to get into the top eight after a poor 2020/21 season.
"But my problem with the likes of Tshakhuma, [Black] Leopards, is that they only play well when facing big teams," television pundit Mabalane tells snl24.com/kickoff.
"You can't think like that as a player, especially when you are in desperation for points. Any three points is valuable for them, so it shouldn't be only against Chiefs, Pirates and Sundowns. They won't have luck all the time. It's a risk to raise your game only when you are playing Chiefs.
"At the moment Chiefs are having a problem of inconsistency. They win here, they lose there... in fact, Chiefs and Tshakhuma are the same because Chiefs they also beat Sundowns and after that they lose. Tshakuma also, they beat Sundowns in the Nedbank Cup and after that they lose, so they are the same.
"They are in the same WhatsApp group of 'win-lose, win-lose'. The reason Tshakhuma find it difficult to move away from the relegation zone is consistency. For me their run of form is almost similar.
"So no one's got an upper hand in tomorrow's game. It can go either way. They are in the same boat, same WhatsApp group."
The league match between the two clubs takes place at Peter Mokaba Stadium on Tuesday (17h00).
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