Jele admits pressure is on Pirates
“We can say that we are under pressure, but we are focusing on that, we will take it game by game and get the results for the team,” says Jele.
Happy Jele of Orlando Pirates (Gavin Barker/BackpagePix)
Yet to win a major trophy in four-years, Orlando Pirates skipper Happy Jele has admitted to the mounting pressure that is lying on the shoulders of the Bucs players with only the League Championship, Nedbank Cup and the Caf Champions League titles remaining on offer.
The Bucs captain stressed the importance of the club of Pirates calibre to lift silverware now and then, but says they will take it game by game as they go on a quest to qualify for the group stages of the Champions League when they host Namibia’s African Stars at the Orlando Stadium this evening.
“As a player, you are always playing under pressure, the pressure keeps on pushing you to perform very well every time you play. I believe when you sign for Orlando Pirates, you already under pressure to perform because this is a big team and you have to deliver and help the team win trophies,” said the defender.
“We can say that we are under pressure, but we are focusing on that, we will take it game by game and get the results for the team.”
Jele revealed that they are eager on going all the way to the final of the continental competition especially after missing out on lifting the Telkom Knockout trophy, but he says they won’t take African Stars for granted with the notion of big teams always doing well against smaller teams no longer in existence.
“We need to compete in each every competition we get into and as players, we want to stay in this competition until the last day. I think it’s crucial to go all out when playing any team, you can’t underestimate any team nowadays, and the so-called small teams beat big teams. So, it’s important that you focus on yourselves and try to get positive results,” he added.
“We are good, but what I can say that we were disappointed with the results last weekend (Telkom Knockout loss to Baroka FC), but all of that is gone now, we have to focus on the new journey and that is our next game. Our technical team did their homework (on opponents) and we are looking forward to the game.”
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