Pirates change focus to Arrows after ‘special’ win against Chiefs

The morale at Orlando Pirates is certainly high after their win against nemesis Kaizer Chiefs as they head into their next league encounter against Golden Arrows at Sugar Ray Xulu Stadium on Tuesday.

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Pirates have been struggling with consistency lately and the win against Amakhosi should be a springboard for the club as they play catch up with early pace setters on the log, Mamelodi Sundowns, Swallows FC and SuperSport United.

Bucs have gone up to fourth place on the league standings with 25 points in the bag from 15 games.

Coach Josef Zinnbauer will be hoping his charges give the same fight they displayed against Chiefs against Arrows.

“This is a team effort, we needed this against Chiefs. It was a derby a special game and now we won it three times. It’s good for us and for the supporters also, but the thinking was all about three points. It was not easy because you could see some quality in them. They have been very good in the last few weeks,” said Zinnbauer.

“They had three wins in a row and they were on a hype. They are not a team you could easily score and win. We are happy we got three points, now we have to focus into the next game.”

But, the KwaZulu-Natal club are no pushovers and Pirates should know having recently played to a goalless draw against Abafana Be’sthende.

Mandla Ncikazi’s team have a had a decent start to the season. With 13 league games behind them, they are sitting in position six on the table with 22 points.

Ncikazi knows that coming up against Bucs will be tough, but hopes his players will be up for the challenge.

“Another tough match is awaiting us against a highly motivated Pirates. It’s a bad time to play such an encounter at the back of their good win against Chiefs. The January month has been very challenging in our team losing many players to different reasons considering the fact that we don’t have a big squad,” said Ncikazi.

“We hardly change our team and I pray the mileage that the players gathered this month doesn’t affect the team negatively on Tuesday. The spirit in the camp is good after the come from behind against Maritzburg United. One thing I’m sure of is that the players will give their best as always and I wish and hope that their best will give us a positive result.”

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