The Buccaneers defeated AC Leopards 2-0 at Orlando Stadium with goals from Mpho Makola and Oupa Manyisa in each half sealing their place in the semifinal with one match to spare.
Should Pirates finish first in the group, they will play the first leg of the semi-final away from home, which Tinkler would prefer.
“We would like to do that. We have been doing well in this competition whenever we play away from home first and obviously finishing on top of the group will mean we will go away and first, then come home to hopefully secure the result,” Tinkler explains.
“Our objective now is to try and get results against Zamalek in our last group match to make sure we finish top of the group. “Having already qualified makes the task easier going to Zamalek and now we can hopefully finish top of the group.”
The former Bafana Bafana midfield star says he opted for a cautious game last night in order to secure the result.
“You would have noticed that the brand of football was not the one we usually present. But we felt it was important that we remain discliplined. It was always going to be a very tactical game and it was important that we collect the three points.”
Leopards dominated much of the much, but were unable to breach the defence marshaled by new goalkeeper Felipe Ovono.