Zinnbauer just wants to take it match-by-match

Orlando Pirates have managed to get themselves back into the DStv Premiership title race, but head coach Josef Zinnbauer (below) doesn’t want to get ahead of himself, with the league leaders Mamelodi Sundowns still holding all the Aces.

The Buccaneers moved to 32 points following their 1-0 victory over Bloemfontein Celtic on Tuesday, just one point behind SuperSport United, who have also played 19 matches.

Pirates are also only four points behind Masandawana but the difference there is that they have played three less games than the Buccaneers.

Added to this, Swallows FC and Golden Arrows are on 30 and 29 points respectively, but they both have two games in hand on Pirates.

Pirates’ next game is against Chippa United tomorrow.

“We haven’t played the same number of games, other teams have one less game, while Sundowns has three. We can speak about it (being title contenders) maybe in a couple of weeks,” said Zinnbauer.

“The focus for me is the next game against Chippa, then comes international games and the Nedbank Cup against Sundowns. We have to focus this week and next week, but not on the title,” added the Bucs mentor.

“What is important for us is recovery, getting the players back fresh. I hope we get a better performance in the next game. The performance was not good (against Celtic), what is important is the result though,” he added.

In the past we had better performances, but we would end up playing to a draw, so I’m happy about the three points, so that’s good for us. We know that we don’t have the same number of games (as other teams), but we still have to fight to climb the table.”