Orlando Pirates coach Milutin Sredojevic has revealed that Innocent Maela and midfielder Vincent Pule will have to undergo fitness tests before being included in the squad for Saturday’s Telkom Knockout semi-final against Kaizer Chiefs.

Both Pule and Maela played 90 minutes for the South African national team in the 1-1 draw against Paraguay in the Nelson Mandela Challenge on Tuesday night, but Sredojevic will have to wait until the last minute to decide whether the duo are fit enough for the clash against Chiefs.

‘Two of our players [Pule and Maela] played the full match for Bafana Bafana against Paraguay during the week and we have that in mind‚’ said Sredojevic on Thursday.

‘Both of them will have to pass a fitness test in order to prove they are ready, because a match of this magnitude demands every player to be 200% ready.

‘Friday’s last training session will tell us what to do, but we strongly hope the scorer of the winning goal in the last match against Chiefs [Pule] will be part of the team on Saturday.’

Pirates have had the beating of Chiefs since Sredojevic’s arrival, but the Serbian coach admitted that they will still show their rivals the respect the derby deserves.

‘Whatever was good in our last two matches against Chiefs we shall try to improve on, and whatever we did not do well we shall try to correct.

‘We have opponents who want to take revenge on us and for that we must be on our toes and not be caught flat-footed.

‘We must be fully aware that we are playing against a team with top-quality individuals.

‘Itumeleng Khune is one of the [best] goalkeepers‚ they have my respected colleague Giovanni Solinas‚ they have Khama Billiat who is one of the players who could play in Europe,’ concluded the Pirates coach.