Orlando Pirates coach Jose Riveiro has urged his troops not to drop their heads following the 1-0 defeat to Stellenbosch FC in a DStv Premiership clash on Saturday evening at the Danie Craven Stadium.
Riveiro wants his men to show character and bounce back when they face Royal AM at Orlando Stadium in Soweto on Tuesday evening (19:30).
The Soweto giants were stunned by Stellies in their 2023/24 season opener, with Antonio Van Wyk scoring the only goal of the match.
Stellenbosch FC were resilient in defence as they shut down Pirates’ talented attack throughout the 90 minutes to take all three points on offer.
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“Look, they (Pirates players) know when they don’t perform at the level that you expect them to perform. They know. You don’t need to tell them,” said Riveiro.
“We know what we are doing, what we are looking for. And when we are not at the level we are supposed to be at. We are critical of ourselves.
“But against Stellenbosch, I don’t think we were creative enough. We need to make sure we have a good comeback on Tuesday.”
Pirates are set to play eight games in the month of August, including the MTN8 quarter-final against Sekhukhune United and a CAF Champions League encounter away to the Comoros Islands in the first round.
Jose Riveiro said Pirates are ready and up for the challenge, as they have the depth and quality to compete.
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“Psychologically, I think we are we are ready, or I want to think that we are ready,” he said. “We have 36 players in the squad to try to mitigate the fact that we have to play eight games in August with long trips and long waits in the airports and all of these things that we’re going to find playing in the continent.
“But we had time in pre-season to prepare ourselves for this scenario. It’s easy to say that we want to compete in every competition, so we need to live up to what we say.
“We are lucky that we have to play on Tuesday again at home and show everyone that the loss to Stellenbosch was just an accident.”