Struggling Bucs target ‘last trophy’

It’s worst season ever – Matlaba

Orlando Pirates defender Thabo Matlaba, pictured, says the team will not throw in the towel as they continue to go through their bad patch.

The Buccaneers are set to finish their second consecutive season without a trophy unless they win the Nedbank Cup.

Pirates will meet Free State Stars – who beat them in the league last week – in the last 16 round of the competition at James Motlatsi Stadium, Orkney, on Saturday (8.15pm).

Matlaba, who joined Pirates from Free State Stars in 2012, insists that they can still salvage their season.

“This is the worst season ever, bro. It’s frustrating, but we need to accept that this is football,” he told Sowetan.

“We know that if we don’t win anything, it will be our second season without winning anything so we are trying our best. It’s not a good thing as you know. It’s a big team – this is Orlando Pirates. We also need to move (up) on the (log) table,” said the defender nicknamed Festival.

The 29-year-old further says all is well in their camp despite their poor run and believes they can finish strongly.

“I’m positive and everyone is positive even though we are not doing well. We are not shouting at each other, we are encouraging each other. We’ve forgotten about the last game. We lost (to Stars), so it is water under the bridge. We watched our game again and we know where we made mistakes. We are trying to fix that and I hope things will go better on Saturday,” he added.