ALL SET FOR ROYAL BATTLE
Rakhale has the inside take on Pirates
Chippa United winger Thabo Rakhale said coach Eric Tinkler had a few tricks up his sleeve ahead of their Telkom Knockout fixture against Orlando Pirates on Saturday, at Orlando Stadium (8.15pm).
Rakhale was sending out an early warning to his former club Orlando Pirates as the teams prepare to battle it out.
The 28-year-old player said Tinkler has added a couple of new ingredients to spice up the Chilli Boys ahead of the crucial encounter against the mighty Buccaneers.
Rakhale is wary that playing Pirates at home will not be an easy task, however he is confident that they could progress to the next stage of the competition if they follow instructions.
Last season the Chilli Boys beat Mamelodi Sundowns 1-0 at Sisa Dukashe Stadium in the first round of the competition to meet Soweto giants Kaizer Chiefs in the quarterfinals.
Their journey in the tournament was put to an end by Chiefs after losing 1-0 to the Glamour Boys, at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.
“We are looking positive and the plans so far have been so good. I hope on the matchday we will be able to apply what we have been doing at training,” said Rakhale.
“We have changed our tactics because the ones we [were] using did not get [us] positive results, so the coach wants something new.
“Knowing him personally, he is a good planner of the opponent and from what I have seen so far in training we are going to give them [Pirates] a hard time.”
Rakhale, who joined Chippa early this year, is one of many players at Chippa who know Pirates very well after being with Bucs since 2012.
“As Chippa things have not been going well so far this season but we are more than prepared for this game,” he said.