The keeper will be making his debut for Bucs in the Confederation Cup tonight after Brighton Mhlongo was ruled out due to a knee injury he picked up against SuperSport United two weeks ago.
Tinkler believes that Ovono's experience on the continent will help him settle his nerves against Leopards.
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"As young as he is, he has vast experience because he has been playing for the national team; he has been playing in Africa for many years so this is not anything new for him," Tinkler says.
"He is a very matured youngster to be honest. He has a lot of faith and a lot of belief, which is good.
"This is an opportunity for him to grab that number one [spot] and make it his own. I've stated that I have three great keepers; you saw Siyabonga Mpontshane had a good game against Chippa, so for the coach that's good because I'm in a comfortable position when it comes to goalkeeping department."
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A point for the Buccaneers tonight will be enough to confirm their place in the semifinals, but Tinkler says they are going all out to win the match as he feels they still stand a chance of winning the group.
"We are in a good position; a draw will get us into the semis and right now we have that point in our pocket. I've explained to the players that it is 0-0 right now and we need to protect it at all cost.
"Defensively we need to be well disciplined, well organized, well structured and we make sure we don't concede. They are a team with nothing to lose; they will come here and try to collect three points and they are obviously going to come at us. They will open up and when they do that, we need to exploit.
"We need to try and hit them on a counter which is one of our strength. Hopefully we can seal the deal so that when we go to Zamalek we have already qualified."
Bucs will be without Ntsikelelo Nyauza who picked up a knee injury against Chippa United on Tuesday.
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Look out for an exclusive interview with Ovono in the new edition of KICK OFF magazine, where he expresses a desire to help Pirates get that second star!
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