Thalente Mbatha has outlined Orlando Pirates' approach to the crucial second leg of their CAF Champions League semi-final clash against a dangerous Pyramids FC away from home as nerves relating to a second star start to kick in.
Pirates will have to show up in the second leg if they are to progress to the final of this season's Champions League, having been forced to settle for a 0-0 stalemate with Egyptian side Pyramids at FNB Stadium last weekend.
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The result has set up what head coach Jose Riveiro termed a 'tricky' situation for both teams heading into the second leg at the 30 June Stadium on Friday (20:00 SA time).
Bucs, who remain unbeaten in the competition, will draw confidence from their away record, which has seen them win all but two of their away clashes so far in the continental competition.
"So, since we’ve been playing away and we’ve been winning, so we take that as an advantage for us. Because we’ve gone to Cairo, and we’ve been able to get the result," Mbatha told the club's media after the match.
"So, for us, it’s to focus and continue with the mentality that we have because we’ve been unbeaten in the CAF Champions League. So, for us, it’s to go back to Cairo and do the same – apply the same mentality," he added.
The lanky former SuperSport United man also touched on the strategy employed by the visitors on Saturday.
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"For them, they were to man-mark us and catch us on the counter because the right wing wasn’t tracking back with our left-back, so I believe that was their own mentality because they're playing away.
"They were trying to secure the one point that they already have."
