Pirates will host the Egyptian giants in the first leg of a CAF Confederation Cup semi-final at Orlando Stadium on Saturday.
And Tinkler concedes his team's morale took strain with the 4-1 defeat to Zamalek in their Group B decider 10 days ago.
The Sea Robbers have since drawn 1-1 with Mpumalanga Black Aces and 0-0 with Polokwane City in the League.
"The areas we want to improve obviously are defensively, and I’m happy we kept a clean-sheet – that is something we can take away from this game," Tinkler said after the stalemate with City on Tuesday night.
"It’s a good morale-booster for the goalkeeper, and obviously for the back-four as well.
"Our offensive play, we’ve kind of gone off the boil. There has been a knock in our confidence after the game against Zamalek, but what’s important now is just trying to motivate these boys and to make them understand it’s a massive game on the weekend; it’s almost a once in a lifetime opportunity, and we need to make the most of it," concluded the former Bafana Bafana midfielder.