adminOrlando Pirates will hope to avenge their 1-0 defeat at the hands of Free State Stars when they resume their Absa Premiership campaign tomorrow night at Orlando Stadium.
The Sea Robbers will be motivated by their fantastic run in the Nedbank Cup as they will be hoping to collect another three points at home.
Coach Eric Tinkler is aware that the spirit is high in his camp and hosting Ea Lla Koto allows them to push for a high finish in the league.
In their previous matches, they demolished Jomo Cosmos 5-0 before losing to second-placed Bidvest Wits 1-0.
However, they bounced back to winning ways when they beat Ezenkosi 3-1 in the Ke Yona Cup last weekend.
On the log table, they’re placed at seventh spot with 32 points from 23 rounds of matches and will now hope to avenge their 1-0 defeat in Bethlehem.
Tinkler said the match is one of their important encounters and they will aim at opening the gap between them and their opponent.
“It’s another important game for us against a side that is hot on our heels on the PSL table,” said Tinkler.
“It’s the proverbial six-pointer because it will give us an opportunity to create a bit of a gap between us at the end of the game.
“We lost the first round having dominated the game, as we failed to score over and above the chances we created.
“We conceded through our own mistakes and couldn’t come back from it. We’ve been working at breaking teams down lately and have come up on top in all but one game against opposition that sits back.”
Judging Giovanni Solinas’ men, they will also come to Soweto targeting a win.
The Bethlehem-based side have also done well in the Ke Yona competition and will head to Johannesburg hoping to continue with their fine form.
They beat Cape Town Santos last weekend in the previous round of the cup while defeating Bloemfontein Celtic and drawing against Polokwane City in the league.
Ea Lla Koto’s mission is to consolidate their top eight position as they now occupy position eight with 32 points from 23 matches.
Assistant coach Bradley Carnell said they will count on their recent form in the Ke Yona cup and will continue with their momentum.
“Pirates are on a good run, they’ve a formidable attack and keep the ball well,” said Carnell.
“We can’t worry too much about the individuals, but we must have to be on top of our game. We’ve gone five games in the league and cup unbeaten and we aim to continue the momentum.
“There are about 20 players at Pirates we could worry about, but we’ll just go about our business and try to upset them again.”
Fixtures
Tomorrow: Maritzburg Utd vs University of Pretoria(18:00), Orlando Pirates vs Free State Stars (20:15).
Sunday — SuperSport United vs Chippa United (15:00), Bloem Celtic v Golden Arrows (15:00). — Sport24.
Online Reporter
derick.khumalo