Tinkler has Celtic blueprint

Cape Town - Orlando Pirates coach Eric Tinkler has been working on ways to break down the defensive game plans employed in the Premiership, starting against Bloemfontein Celtic at the Free State Stadium on Wednesday.

The Buccaneers have been in hot form in the CAF Confederations Cup, where they have played against teams that enjoy an open game, unlike in the ultra-defensive Premiership.

Pirates advanced to the semi-finals of the CAF competition with a 2-0 win over AC Leopards last week, but in the domestic league the Soweto giants won one and lost one of their two league fixtures, while they were knocked out of the MTN8 by Ajax Cape Town.

"Every competition and every team we play is completely different," Tinkler told KickOff.

"Against Leopards we played against a team that had to come at us. We knew that they would.

"But when we play in the PSL, 99% of the teams sit back and wait for us and make it difficult to try and break them down.

"It is about us trying to open them up and we have been creating chances, it's just been difficult to put them in the back of the net."