Johannesburg - Orlando Pirates skipper Lucky Lekgwathi is happy to have star striker Benni McCarthy back in the mix for Wednesday's clash with Santos.
The former Bafana Bafana hitman has completed his two-match suspension, after being sent off against Maritzburg United, and Lekgwathi is keen to see him on the pitch for Bucs.
"Benni is a highly experienced striker, we are happy to have him back in the team," Lekgwathi told the Sowetan.
"Benni has been working hard at training but the final decision on whether he is playing or not is the responsibility of the technical staff."
On the Santos fixture at Orlando Stadium, Lekgwathi added: "The other thing is that we beat them in the MTN8 quarterfinal. But we expect them to come out spitting fire."
When asked if Pirates will have one eye on the Chiefs tie looming on the weekend, the captain said: "The focus is on the game against Santos; we will start thinking about Chiefs once we have won the midweek game.
"But I must say, it is important to go into the derby in a happy mood."