ORLANDO Pirates are back at Thohoyandou Stadium this weekend, but this time around wielding the sword against Black Leopards.
This must send shivers down the spine of Leopards, who watched Josef Zinnbauer’s Buccaneers destroy their homeboys Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila (TTM) 3-0 at the same Limpopo venue.
Considering that they will be facing the same Pirates on Sunday at the same stadium in Venda, Lidoda Duvha must be drafting game plans after another, as they map the best strategy to keep Bucs at bay to save themselves from an embarrassment suffered by TTM on Wednesday.
Zinnbauer said he hopes his players will show more hunger against struggling Leopards in their DStv Premiership match on Sunday (3.30pm).
This is the match where skipper, Thulani Hlatshwayo, will likely return to the starting line-up having missed the TTM clash due to suspension.
His absence saw Happy Jele get a late call up in the game in the second half for a 20 minutes run. But Zinnbauer could not shed light whether the long serving captain will start against Lidoda Duvha.
“Our advantage is that we can easily change the structure and system. This is good for us,” explained Zinnbauer.
“It’s good to see Jele back. We needed the experience from him. He made 20 or 25 minutes on the pitch. It was good. Mako (Paseka) played well. Wayde (Jooste) was good. He got man of the match and I am happy for him.”
Although Bucs demolished Leopards’ rivals Tshakhuma at the same venue, Zinnbauer was “not happy” about his players’ lack of killer instinct.
He said: “We had the possibilities to score earlier, not once, twice but three times. When we have control then we must kill the opponents.
“My feeling today is that we were not hungry enough. We scored three goals and got casual. We had lots of counter attacks, but we were too casual. These are things we will speak about (before Leopards clash). We need to work on it.”
However, the German-born mentor is delighted that his strikers – Gabadinho Mhango and Deon Hotto – finally found each and broke the duck.
Ironically, both players are tied on two goals each in the Premiership scorers’ chart.
They are eight behind current top goal scorer Bradley Grobler of SuperSport United.
“We had a lot of opportunities in the first half and also in the second half. I am happy Gaba (Mhango) scored, Hotto scored, Makaringe (Fortune) scored. I am happy about these players because they work well against the ball and with the ball.”
Pirates are aiming to narrow the seven points gap between them and leaders Mamelodi Sundowns at the expense of Lidoda Duvha.
