Johannesburg – Head coach Roger de Sa believes his Orlando Pirates outfit will regain their composure after a lengthy absence from the league campaign, and he hopes they will be back to their best this weekend.
Playing their first Premiership game in more than four weeks, Pirates secured a narrow 1-0 win over Maritzburg United at Harry Gwala Stadium on Wednesday night.
After focusing their attention on the African Champions League, where they reached the final, De Sa admitted they would need to shake themselves off and settle back into the Premiership season.
“We made a lot of mistakes (against Maritzburg) but you're not going to play champagne football every week,” De Sa said.
“We've got a bit of time to correct it and let's see if we can get it better for Saturday.”
While Bloemfontein Celtic had not played an official match in three weeks, De Sa believed his side would be able to utilise the next few days to ensure they were ready to square up against the Free State side at Orlando Stadium this weekend.
The Buccaneers, lying at the bottom of the top-flight standings, held at least six games in hand over every other team in the domestic league.
“It's all about three points now,” De Sa said.
“We've got another difficult one against Celtic, who have had a good rest, so we've got to revitalise the players a bit, regenerate them and make sure they're fresh for Saturday.”
Meanwhile, Maritzburg coach Clinton Larsen, appointed last month, remained confident his side could bounce back after a slump in form.
Despite creating far more chances than the visitors, Maritzburg went down in their third successive defeat and became further entrenched in the bottom half of the table.
“It's not all about the results,” Larsen said.
“When I got here four or five weeks ago, eight of the players were on the treatment table.
“We've slowly started getting them back one by one, and we've only got three out at the moment, so we're getting fitter and stronger as a team. I'm happy we're making progress.” – Sapa