Ndah’s injury made us shaky, says Pirates’ Davids
't was a very good first half from our team, the injury to Ndah unsettled us slightly,' said Bucs co-coach.
Olisa Ndah of Orlando Pirates. Picture Samuel Shivambu/BackpagePix
Orlando Pirates co-coach Fadlu Davids admitted that Olisa Ndah’s injury in the first half made his side uncomfortable, but it doesn’t mean they should have gone on to concede like they did in their tie with Mamelodi Sundowns.
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The Nigerian centre-back has been very reliable for the Buccaneers in their last few games, but, as soon as he was subbed off due to injury in half-time with score at 0-0, Pirates became very sloppy at the back in the second stanza which saw Downs go on to win the tie 4-1 at Loftus Versfeld Stadium last Friday.
“It was a very good first half from our team, the injury to Ndah unsettled us slightly but normally we are very good on set-pieces, defending set-pieces and the two set-pieces is what determined the game you know,” the Pirates co-coach told SuperSport TV after the match.
“Within the first five minutes conceding the first and seven minutes later conceding the second and that changed the game completely. The complexion of the game where we were on top in the first-half and those two goals definitely unsettled us, which we could not recover from.”
Ndah’s injury will certainly be a huge concern for the Bucs technical team, with two more games to play before the league goes into the Christmas break. They will be hoping it is not as serious as they thought, with the Soweto giants hosting Marumo Gallants at the Orlando Stadium on Monday.
The result against the Pretoria based outfit didn’t make any changes in the Buccaneers log position after the match, as they remained in third place on the log with 24 points after 17 games. But, there might be some changes in the standings with some weekend fixtures coming up.
