Orlando Pirates coach Milutin Sredojevic has called on his side to respond after the disappointing 0-0 draw against African Stars in their Caf Champions League first round first leg clash with African Stars.
The Sea Robbers will now travel to Windhoek to take on the Namibian outfit on Saturday in the second leg as they look to book a spot in the group stages of the continental tournament.
Pirates will have to deal with a different altitude and an artificial pitch, something Sredojevic will have anticipated for his side.
‘Knowing where we are going, we shall not stay that much at their place,’ Sredojevic said.
‘We shall go just for acclimatisation, the training will be here. We shall do everything that is needed to prepare ourselves for the artificial grass where the ball is bouncing differently, and this is one of the factors that needs to be calculated to get ready for the game away.’
The Serbian coach also admitted that the draw at the Orlando Stadium served as a reminder that their place in the group stages is not secure.
‘In a way, I will like to say that inconsistency is due to many factors that we know inside and we don’t want to critically look to outside. In football sometimes, one plus one is not two, because if it is, we will continue to score always.
‘Football is just serving us humble pie that could teach us lessons and telling us that we are still not in the group stages. Maybe in our mind we were thinking we shall get the results convincingly and whatever. But this cannot happen if we don’t work extra hard and are good enough in the field of play.
‘We were not good enough to win the game. Let’s be clear and put the hand on our heart, be critical, and go back to the drawing board, improving all aspects of the game that will help us to win and go to the group stages,’ concluded the Pirates coach.