Pirates coach is wary of Middendorp’s team

Orlando Pirates coach Josef Zinnbauer is wary of a Maritzburg United under the whip of experienced Ernst Middendorp (below), as his battling team lock horns with the Team of Choice at the Harry Gwala Stadium today.

The Bucs coach says it will be easy for the Maritzburg players to pick themselves up and is anticipating a tough game.

He is well aware that he and the rest of his technical team need to choose their starting line-up very carefully, knowing his German counterpart as he does.

“We had a good recovery session and the focus is only on this game. We know the opponents, with a new coach who has a lot of experience in this league. He is very flexible in his systems (he plays), and knows how to motivate young players. It’s a tough game for us, but it’s possible to fight for three points,” said Zinnbauer.

“We just have to see whose better prepared for the next 90 minutes, we’ve had a lot of games in a row. You could see that in the last game (a midweek goalless draw with Golden Arrows) that there wasn’t much freshness in the last minutes (players getting tired). When it’s like that you need good substitutes, that’s the reason why we have to think hard about the starting lineup.”

The Bucs coach confirmed that striker Gabadinho Mhango is not available for selection, while Zakhele Lepasa, Tshegofatso Mabasa and Abel Mabaso are still working on recovering from their respective injuries.

“He (Mhango) has a muscle problem and we have to wait now, but it’s unlikely he will play tomorrow (today), maybe Tuesday,” he added.

“Other players – Lepasa, Mabasa and Mabaso are also out, they have been injured for a long time, but other than that, all is well.

Kick-off is at 5pm.