Pirates journey to Liberia for Champions league next round quest

Knowing the importance of the Caf Confederation Cup, Orlando Pirates co-coach Fadlu Davids says the main objective going to Liberia is to ensure they come back with a positive result when the Buccaneers take on LPRC Oilers in the first leg of the play-off at Samuel Kanyon Doe Sports Complex on Sunday.

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The Buccaneers are just two games away from qualifying for the group stages of the tournament, but it surely won’t be easy for Davids and co-coach Mandla Ncikazi, who have to find the perfect team to do duty for the club with some domestic league regulars not available for selection.

“Our focus immediately now is to switch to Caf. We have an important task travelling to Liberia. We have to get a good result over there to be able to qualify for the group stages. Of course there are some players who are not registered, so, there will be some changes. But our main focus now is to get a good result away from home,” said the Bucs co-coach.

Despite some players not being registered to play in the continental tournament, if there is one positive the Bucs’ team should be happy about going into this tie is that they found their scoring boots after beating Stellenbosch 3-0 in the domestic league in their last game. The victory was crucial for Pirates and is a perfect morale booster for the club.

“It was important for the players because the performance has been good, but not really getting the result we wanted. Not scoring the goals we wanted, it was all about, the harder you work, the luckier you become. One team was going to give in. it was unfortunate we couldn’t score four. But we are really happy for the players and all the hard work and now finally getting three goals.”

While Pirates will head into this match with their tails wagging high after the win in the domestic league, Oilers come into this match after playing to a 2-2 draw with Watanga at home in the Liberian Football League.

The Liberians are yet to win a match in their last three games, while Pirates have recorded one win, one draw and one loss.