Free State Stars will target an immediate return to winning ways when they welcome Orlando Pirates for their Absa Premiership encounter at Goble Park on Wednesday night.
Kick-off is at 7:30pm.
Ea Lla Koto will have to dig deep as they’re now aiming at avoiding their third league loss in a row.
Giovanni Solinas has a task of ensuring his team is ready for the wounded Buccaneers who are also chasing a win.
The Bethlehem side have suffered two back-to-back defeats against Mamelodi Sundowns in Orkney and against Jomo Cosmos away last weekend.
On the log table, Stars occupy position 12 with 22 points after 18 rounds of premiership matches and welcoming the Sea Robbers could produce a cracker.
Although this is the first clash between these two sides in the 2015/16 Premier Soccer League season, Stars drew 1-1 at Charles Mopeli and lost 1-0 at Orlando Stadium last season.
To the assistant coach, Bradley Carnell, he said they’ve been following the Buccaneers and singled out Thabo Matlaba as a possible threat.
“I love the energy about Matlaba, he doesn’t respect the opponent but we are doing our homework – it is not hard see his impact,” said Carnell.
“Obviously the disappointment of the Cosmos is apparent, it is important to bounce back because we are playing a team of the calibre of Pirates and we should respect them.
“We are in a very tough moment and the water is deep where we are treading, so we need to swim out quick.”
Shifting the point of view to Eric Tinkler’s men, the Sea Robbers are also desperate for the full three points as they want to consolidate their top eight spot.
The Soweto giants are fresh from 2-1 defeat at the hands of the log leaders, Sundowns, at home last Wednesday and a win could revive their spirits.
Although they were starting to find their rhythm after beating University of Pretoria and Ajax Cape Town, their run was broken by Pitso Mosimane’s side last week.
Tinkler will be happy to welcome his stand-in skipper and defender Matlaba back to the fold after returning from suspension having missed the Brazilians clash.
Pirates are placed at No 9 on the log table with 23 points after 18 league matches and will go all out for the full three points.
Thandani Ntshumayelo is also set to return for the match after missing the Ajax and Sundowns matches due to a bout of flu and he says they must collect points.
“Our next fixture is against Stars and everybody is looking forward to it. It is very important to pick up as many points as we can now to make sure we stay in the top half,” Ntshumayelo said.
“We just have to use our last four performances in order to be on the right track.
“The guys pulled off a good fight against Sundowns and created a number of opportunities but they didn’t go through.”
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