Pirates looking to finish job at home against Disciples

Orlando Pirates will be looking to finish the job at home and progress to the second preliminary round of the CAF Champions League when they meet Disciples of Madagascar at Orlando Stadium on Friday (kick-off is 7.30 pm).

The Buccaneers were held to a goalless draw by the Madagascan outfit in the first leg of the first preliminary round in Mauritius on Sunday. 

The game was played in Mauritius because the Madagascan side do not have a home venue that meets Caf requirements. 

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Following the draw, Pirates received a lot of stick from the media and the fans alike for not coming away with a victory against the Madagascan minnows. 

Club captain Innocent Maela, however, doesn’t feel that the criticism was justified, considering the chances they created at the Côte d’Or National Sports Complex in Saint Pierre.

“Whenever we play we want to win and when we don’t win we get disappointed. But we had opportunities to win the match,” said Maela at Orlando Stadium on Thursday.

“We dominated the game. It’s a pity that we could not win it, but we did have the opportunity [to win it]. We’re looking forward to the game (against Disciples) and we want to win it, there’s no other way,”

“We had our first game away from home against a team that we didn’t know much about, but now we know. 

“It was good that we didn’t come back with an unfavourable result and now we have an advantage because we’re playing at home. We’re focused and know what we need to do. We’ll be ok.”

With Disciples also fancying their chances of progressing to the next stage of the competition after the draw, Maela does not want to entertain the thought of losing the match, especially in front of their home fans.

“We’ll try our best to progress. It is what we want as players and the technical team, to give ourselves the chance to compete in the group stages and we’re going into this group against Disciples with that mindset.

“When you’re playing in front of your supporters, you have that competitive edge over your rivals. We’ll be with our supporters (at Orlando) and it will be a good game for all of us.”