Leopards wary of wounded Pirates
Black Leopards coach Joel Masutha is well-aware of the danger posed by tonight’s Absa Premiership opponents Orlando Pirates.
Black Leopards’ coach Joel Masutha. ©Chris Ricco/Backpagepix
Pirates suffered back-to-back defeats against Bidvest Wits and Bloemfontein Celtic in the last two league encounters. Masutha is worried that they might face Bucs’ backlash tonight.
“We can’t dwell on their past games,” Masutha told IOL.
“We know that they are a team that’s of quality and danger. On any day, they can really give you a hard-time if you are not at your best. They’ve got a super squad and technical coaches. I mean, everything about them is super.
“We know that at the end of the season, they’ll be up there. But what is important for us, is to go out there and play our normal football. We are well prepared for them but most importantly, the boys should just enjoy themselves,” he added.
“As rookies, I think we’ve had a decent start to the season,” Masutha said. “In the last quarter of the game against Chippa United, I think we let the foot off the pedal a bit. But, what you do unto others will also be done unto you, just like we also came back against Highlands Park late in the game.”
With the Premier Soccer League turning down their request to play this fixture at the Thohoyandou Stadium, Masutha insists that they still have to produce good results regardless where they play their home game.
“That matter is beyond us really,” Masutha explained. “We must just continue to perform at any given platform. After all, we train in Polokwane, so playing at Peter Mokaba Stadium is not a train-smash really. We are still at home. We always have to focus on the positives, even if we have to travel six hours for a home game, we’ll do that.”
