Orlando Pirates coach Josef Zinnbauer says despite dropping two points in last Saturday’s 1-1 draw against Swallows FC, the way they performed gives them hope ahead of their Caf Confederation Cup Group A match away at Enyimba FC on Wednesday.
It was a second straight draw for Pirates having also been held 0-0 by ES Setif in another continental fixture last week.
The Buccaneers will be in Aba on Wednesday where they need a draw to be guaranteed to progress to the quarter-finals of the continental second-tier club competition.
But after a Thulani Hlatshwayo's own goal saw Pirates conceding against Swallows, before Tshegofatso Mabaso saved the Soweto giants’ day, Zinnbauer is refusing to focus on the negatives in their performance.
“Next we have an important game against Enyimba,” said Zinnbauer as per Sowetan Live.“I think the positives we are taking to the Enyimba match is that we played well against Swallows, but I would be happier if we had better results to take it to our next game.
"But the performance gives us hope going forward. We can play on Wednesday without fear.”
Interestingly, all teams in Group A still have a chance to reach the quarter-finals.
Pirates enjoy a two-point gap on top of the group and just need a point while third-placed Enyimba need nothing short of victory.
Bottom-placed ES Setif, who have five points, will progress to the last eight if they beat Al Ahli Benghazi, who are second on the table with seven points, and Pirates get something from the People's Elephant.
While Zinnbauer does not want to pay much attention to what went wrong against Swallows, that draw saw the Buccaneers blowing a chance to move closer to Golden Arrows, who are third on the PSL table but have played a game more than them.
Victory would have enhanced their top-three chance which guarantees them playing continental football next season.
“It was a good game for us. I think we deserved three points,” said Zinnbauer.
“But we won’t speak about it, the title or the Champions League spot. It’s still a long way, but we still need points for these targets. It is a long way. But we will fight for it.”
