Cape Town - Orlando Pirates head coach Josef Zinnbauer insists it's not a good time to talk about challenging for the Absa Premiership title despite their current form.
The Buccaneers have been tearing through their opponents since the German tactician took over the reins and they moved into second place in the standings on Saturday with a 2-1 win over Chippa United.
The result put them within nine points of league leaders and bitter rivals Kaizer Chiefs, but Zinnbauer is determined to manage expectations as the lead remains significant.
"We don't talk about the title. We take it game by game and then we'll see what happens at the end of the season and then we will see next season if we can talk about targets," Zinnbauer told SuperSportTV after beating the Chilli Boys.
Pirates have now won five consecutive league games and are top of the pile in the form table. Their next test will be a Nedbank Cup round of 32 clash against Bidvest Wits on Sunday 9 February.
"At the moment it's not about what I want. We need a little bit of time. We've only been together for six weeks and this is a short time in football," Zinnbauer continued.
"We have a lot of good players now, the squad is closer, the quality is starting to show and the system is in the minds of the players - that is important.
"Kaizer Chiefs, Mamelodi Sundowns and SuperSport United have very good squads and Kaizer Chiefs have a lot of points but we do our work.
"We work for three points game after game and then we'll see what happens but for me, this is not the right time to talk about the title.
"What's important for me is to improve the team and I have been doing that and I'm very happy about it."
- TEAMTalk