Cape Town - Orlando Pirates head coach Milutin Sredojevic has
opened up about his decision to partner Gladwin Shitolo and Ntsikelelo Nyauza
in central defence on Saturday evening.
The Buccaneers came out victorious against Chippa United at
Orlando Stadium in their opening round Premiership fixture courtesy of a
Thamsanqa Gabuza goal.
In his first competitive match as mentor Sredojevic opted to
select Shitolo and Nyauza in order to curb the pace and resilience of Chippa’s
Moeketsi Sekola, Menzi Masuku and Andile Mbenyane.
“We needed to field a central defence that has elements of
speed and elements of correction in defending,” said the Serbian-born coach as
quoted by KickOff website.
“So we put Nyauza, who is usually right-back, at central
because of his aggressiveness. He had top class results from the point of
preparation since we have started. He fully deserved to play and he has backed
it up with the performance.
“Also, Shitolo, who is usually a central midfielder, we put
him at centre back. We wanted to play two central defenders, one that has
aggressiveness and speed and the other knows how to deal with the ball so that
we have passing from behind. But I believe both of them did a good job.”
Meanwhile, the Buccaneers are back in action on Tuesday
evening against Baroka FC for a midweek league clash at Nelson Mandela Bay
Stadium.
Kick off is at 19:30.