ORLANDO Pirates’ Absa Premiership run at home is becoming a cause for concern for head coach Milutin “Micho” Sredojevic.
Despite his Maritzburg United counterpart Fadlu Davids tipping Bucs as title favourites, Micho is bothered by the number of drawn matches the Soweto giants have registered at home.
Their goalless draw with the Team of Choice at Orlando Stadium at the weekend was their fourth at home.
It’s a big week for the mighty Buccaneers as they tackle Light Stars of Seychelles in the Caf Champions League preliminary round, second leg away on Wednesday, then meet Baroka FC in the Telkom Knockout final at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, in Port Elizabeth on Saturday (6pm).
The Serbian mentor was hoping to go into the two matches on the back of a morale-boosting victory, but his team were denied by Team of Choice goalkeeper Richard Ofori, who was voted Man of the Match.
Said Sredojevic: “We always dominate teams at home and we’ve now dropped eight points in our backyard. It’s something we critically need to look at, holding up a mirror to ourselves.
“When it happened the first time we looked at it, we accepted it the second time as it was a coincidence, but a fourth draw is unacceptable. We have to ask ourselves where the problem lies. Why are we not converting our chances and why are we drawing so many games at home?”
Micho made a heartfelt plea to the players to turn Orlando Stadium into their fortress and not allow teams to go there and collect easy points.
He added: “Orlando is supposed to be our fortress against visiting teams. We are supposed to make it hard for a team to come here and collect points.”
Sredojevic said he and his technical team were doing their best to ensure players would not be overloaded due to the hectic domestic and Caf schedule. He revealed that he would rest his key players to keep them fresh for the TKO final, as Bucs will be taking a 5-1 lead to Seychelles midweek.
Added Micho: “We have to keep refreshing the squad. We will make a number of changes for the Caf match.”
