Orlando Pirates coach Rhulani Mokwena has explained his decision to drop French keeper Joris Delle for Wayne Sandilands in the Telkom Knockout win over Stellenbosch.

Pirates have undergone a difficult spell under the young coach, where they initially struggled to score goals, then to keep clean sheets as they conceded eight goals in just three games.

This prompted Mokwena to bring Sandilands back for the TKO clash. However, the Pirates mentor insists his whole side have to meet all his selection criteria in order to be picked, not just goal-keeping.

‘I’ll never throw my players under the bus. I am proud of the Pirates players, they are honest and do the best that they can,’ said Mokwena.

‘We’ll go back and practise more and more, keep improving the team because that’s what we always try to do. And that’s our focus. We’ll continue to work hard on the training pitch. Two very important pillars in our team are hard work and preparation.

‘We are creating chances, but people have been talking about conceding goals, so can we congratulate the team about keeping a clean sheet.

‘With regard to our selection, we’ve got a certain criterion that we use. It’s not just Wayne Sandilands,’ continued Mokwena.

‘We look at, obviously, form and mediocrity. And whoever deserves to play based on what we see at training. We take it one game at a time, be it a cup or league game. We always try to put the best team on the pitch for that match.’