Orlando Pirates are thick in the race for second place in the PSL as they travel to face Chippa United.
Pirates are level with SuperSport United and Kaizer Chiefs on 40 points with a place in next season’s CAF Champions League at stake.
The Buccaneers face a tricky clash at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.
Bucs coach Jose Riveiro has admitted a strong desire to claim second spot and lead the team in African club competition next term.
“When the season started we wished, worked and tried to be at the top, but unfortunately it was impossible to achieve that level of consistency to fight for the top spot this season,” Riveiro said.
“Our objective is to finish as high as possible and that means we badly want to be second to play in Africa next season. We are going to go all the way until the end trying to make sure we are that team [in second] in the end.
“It doesn’t matter who is second [at present], what matters is who is second at the end of the season in the middle of May. We know what we need to do and, hopefully, we are also lucky enough to keep winning.”
Chippa are third from bottom with two draws in their last two outings.
The home team coach Kurt Lentjies has urged his side to build on their performance from the 1-1 draw with SuperSport United last weekend.
“The mood has been good in the camp, obviously the last result against SuperSport, we played a team who were second on the log and walked away with a draw [even though] we actually felt we could have won the match,” Lentjies told the media yesterday.
“Now we are looking forward to the game on Saturday and we will see what will happen.
“We are playing Pirates, who are second on the log, so we are not looking into form or anything at the moment. We focus on what we can control. What’s going to happen in the 90 minutes, and like I said, the guys are positive.”