They've hit Mamelodi Sundowns and Polokwane City out of the ballpark with attacking bravura in recent weeks but after defeat to Kaizer Chiefs last weekend Orlando Pirates have turned their attention to their defence.
The Buccaneers travel to Port Elizabeth to take on Chippa United tomorrow as their focus squares to the league, having fallen just short of the MTN8 title in Durban last weekend to their arch-rivals.
Pirates beat Bidvest Wits 1-0, City 3-0 and Sundowns 3-0 in their past three league matches but the rosy picture was smudged by the 1-0 loss to Amakhosi.
Trying to mend a defence that hasn’t conceded a league goal since the 1-1 draw with AmaZulu last month smacks of insecurity but they are leaving nothing to chance.
Assistant coach Eric Tinkler said: “It will be important to rectify the errors we made in defence, particularly during the dead-ball situation.
“It was the only real problem area that we faced in last weekend’s game against Chiefs and we’ve worked on it this week.
“I don’t think Chiefs created any goal-scoring chances in open play. If we go back to the goals we’ve conceded so far this season, I think four have come from set-pieces.
“Obviously those were a major concern and we’ve had to rectify the mistakes in training. That said, I don’t expect there to be major personnel changes because the team hasn’t been playing badly.
“We made one error and we got punished for it. This game will be about motivating the guys and getting them to understand the importance of bouncing back from last week’s loss as quickly as possible.”
The central defence pairing of Ayanda Gcaba and Siyabonga Sangweni will have to be on alert to prevent United striker David Zulu from enhancing his reputation at their expense.
Increasingly is seems daredevil Rooi Mahamutsa’s error-ridden performances earlier this season have left him isolated from the pack.
The Sea Robbers are seemingly in an endless pursuit of their hot rivals Chiefs as they look to cut down the seven-point deficit at the top of the Premiership log.
Tinkler, though, wants the players to get their minds off the ominous Amakhosi shadow that hovers over all the other PSL teams at the moment and get the three points against Chippa.
“If you want to win league titles, you need to ensure that you win these types of games,” he said.
“It is important for players to learn from past experiences. We’ve found ourselves in similar situations in the past when we’ve had to dig deep against the so-called smaller teams like Polokwane last season and Chippa the season before that.
“Hopefully the players have learnt that they can never take these fixtures lightly.”
Chippa face Bucs backlash
The Buccaneers travel to Port Elizabeth to take on Chippa United tomorrow as their focus squares to the league, having fallen just short of the MTN8 title in Durban last weekend to their arch-rivals.
Pirates beat Bidvest Wits 1-0, City 3-0 and Sundowns 3-0 in their past three league matches but the rosy picture was smudged by the 1-0 loss to Amakhosi.
Trying to mend a defence that hasn’t conceded a league goal since the 1-1 draw with AmaZulu last month smacks of insecurity but they are leaving nothing to chance.
Assistant coach Eric Tinkler said: “It will be important to rectify the errors we made in defence, particularly during the dead-ball situation.
“It was the only real problem area that we faced in last weekend’s game against Chiefs and we’ve worked on it this week.
“I don’t think Chiefs created any goal-scoring chances in open play. If we go back to the goals we’ve conceded so far this season, I think four have come from set-pieces.
“Obviously those were a major concern and we’ve had to rectify the mistakes in training. That said, I don’t expect there to be major personnel changes because the team hasn’t been playing badly.
“We made one error and we got punished for it. This game will be about motivating the guys and getting them to understand the importance of bouncing back from last week’s loss as quickly as possible.”
The central defence pairing of Ayanda Gcaba and Siyabonga Sangweni will have to be on alert to prevent United striker David Zulu from enhancing his reputation at their expense.
Increasingly is seems daredevil Rooi Mahamutsa’s error-ridden performances earlier this season have left him isolated from the pack.
The Sea Robbers are seemingly in an endless pursuit of their hot rivals Chiefs as they look to cut down the seven-point deficit at the top of the Premiership log.
Tinkler, though, wants the players to get their minds off the ominous Amakhosi shadow that hovers over all the other PSL teams at the moment and get the three points against Chippa.
“If you want to win league titles, you need to ensure that you win these types of games,” he said.
“It is important for players to learn from past experiences. We’ve found ourselves in similar situations in the past when we’ve had to dig deep against the so-called smaller teams like Polokwane last season and Chippa the season before that.
“Hopefully the players have learnt that they can never take these fixtures lightly.”
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