Orlando Pirates chairman Irvin Khoza believes Rhulani Mokwena will take advantage of the opportunity given to him at the club.

Mokwena was appointed as caretaker coach at the Sea Robbers after the sudden departure of Milutin Sredojevic last month.

It has not been an easy start to life in the hot seat for Mokwena, but the club chairman backs the young coach to turn things around.

‘Pitso was given an opportunity [at] an early age and he didn’t fail. He exploited the opportunity and never looked back. Hopefully, Rulani will also exploit his [opportunity],’ Khoza told IOL.

‘It is not an easy job this. You need to have a certain kind of temperament. But Rulani is a very hard-working young man who loves his football. He is very passionate, and he works smart.

‘He needs to understand his team – it is both the technical team and his players. He has to learn all those elements. He must understand at Pirates, it is not about you, but it is about the team. You have to get the team behind you and understand your competition.

‘Modern football has a lot of challenges. You have to research and analyse in order to have a competitive edge over your rivals. You must learn quickly and keep up with the rest of the world,’ he concluded.

Pirates are next in action after the international break against Chippa United in a PSL match at Orlando Stadium on Saturday, 14 September.