Publications
Partners
Johannesburg - Orlando Pirates assistant coach Eric Tinkler says the Buccaneers have been working hard on their defending at dead-ball situations as they look ahead to Saturday's trip to Chippa United.
Read: Dauda cuts ties with Chippa
The Buccaneers travel to the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium this weekend on the back of their demoralising 1-0 loss to Kaizer Chiefs in the MTN8 final, where Tefu Mashamaite headed home from a free-kick to seal the title.
Pirates now turn the focus back to the Absa Premiership, where they already sit seven points off the pace of leaders Amakhosi, and Tinkler knows they need to be much better at set-piece plays.
“It will be important to rectify the errors we made in defence, particularly during the dead-ball situation. It was the only real problem area that we faced in last weekend's game against Chiefs and we’ve worked on it this week,” he told The Sowetan.
“I don't think Chiefs created any goalscoring chances in open play. If we go back to the goals we've conceded so far this season, I think four have come from set-pieces.”
“Obviously those were a major concern and we've had to rectify the mistakes in training. That said I don't expect there to be major personnel changes because the team hasn't been playing badly. We made one error and we got punished for it.”
In head-to-head stats, Chippa and Pirates have met in just two previous league matches.
Both of those encounters took place in the 2012/13 season. The Chilli Boys claimed four points, drawing 0-0 in Cape Town before a 1-0 win in the return match in Soweto.
Kick-off is set for 15:00 on Saturday, September 27.
