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Cape Town - Orlando Pirates coach Eric Tinkler admits his team has not had the best of seasons, but insists going all the way in the Nedbank Cup will help finish the campaign on a high.
Pirates have stumbled in their last two league games as they only picked up one point out of a possible six, slimming their chances of finishing in the top-eight with two matches left to play.
"It will be extremely tough, just as you can expect at this stage of the season," the Pirates coach said.
"All the teams are fighting for something, and Maritzburg are no exception. They are in a precarious position. They know that if they don't win, they'll probably go down to the National First Division.
"And at this stage you get crazy results. You saw Bloemfontein Celtic winning by five goals against Ajax. A week before, Chippa United gave Platinum Stars four.
"Had we won those games against Polokwane and Stars, we would be on 44 points. That would have given us a chance to finish third and qualify for the Confed Cup."
The Buccaneers face Free State Stars in the semi-finals of the Ke Yona tournament on May 14, following their impressive 2-0 victory over Mamelodi Sundowns in the previous round.
"We can still achieve that by winning the Nedbank Cup, though. But what's important now is that we don't drop points because we could find ourselves in danger of missing the Top eight.
"Other teams are climbing up, like Chippa, who are a point behind us. SuperSport and Arrows are also close by, so we can't afford mistakes.
"I had hoped that by this time I would long have won my first trophy as head coach. But I'm happy that I still have that chance. It's very important for us to finish the season on a high."
