WINNING MOMENTUM
Team celebrates derby victory but there’s a lot of hard work ahead for Bucs
Plenty of hard work for Pirates after derby victory
Orlando Pirates coach Milutin Sredojevic hopes that their 2-1 win over Kaizer Chiefs in the Soweto derby at FNB Stadium on Saturday will have the desired psychological effect on the players for the remainder of the campaign.
The Buccaneers came from a goal down‚ including a missed penalty‚ to beat Chiefs and stay second on the log with only one point separating them from logleaders, Wits, on the Absa Premiership standings.
“Psychologically‚ you can get so much knowing that you have won a match of this magnitude and this could serve as an injection of motivation and self belief‚” said Sredojevic.
“For us‚ it was a match like any other because we could not get more than three points but confidence is never enough.
“Players or a team without confidence is like a balloon without air. We look to inject our players because matches that we have ahead of us are tough.”
Pirates are among the favourites to win the league championship at the end of the season and they are still alive in the Telkom Knockout where they are up against AmaZulu in the second round of the competition.
There is also the Nedbank Cup and the Caf Champions League later in the season and Sredojevic wants his players to remain grounded after the derby triumph.
“Sometimes‚ what we do could not be understood by people that are outside [of the club] but inside we know the why and the how‚” he said.
“The door is open for players who are not playing because very soon we shall have those Caf Champions League qualifiers and other related matches that will bring us into an abnormal situation.
“The draw for the Champions League will be made in December and in five months they need to finish the season from preliminaries‚ group stages‚ quarterfinals‚ semifinals and final.
“When you look at the local league‚ it is an unbelievable situation but you must have an answer for all those things.
“The way the matches are coming‚ every single one of them is going to be important and we have no right to get carried away or to think anything else.
“The duty at Pirates is to always have the highest target which is to win everything on offer and in that regard we focus on the matches as they come.”