Baroka FC head coach Kgoloko Thobejane has fired a warning shot at an improving Orlando Pirates side ahead of their clash on Thursday.
The Buccaneers are set to welcome Bakgaka Ba Mphahlele at the 2010 Fifa World Cup training venue, Orlando Stadium, in a PSL encounter with Bucs looking to make it three wins in a row across all competitions.
On the other hand, Baroka extended their winless run to seven matches in the league when they succumbed to a 3-2 defeat to Lamontville Golden Arrows away over the weekend and it was Thobejane’s first game in charge of the team after being reappointed on November 21.
The former Baroka reserve coach, who replaced fellow local tactician Matsimela Thoka, had stated that they were targeting 15 points from their next five league matches ahead of their encounter with Arrows.
“Our plan has not changed much, we lost the three points against Arrows but there are twelve more to play for in the next four matches of this first cycle,” Thobejane told Sowetan.
“Our position on the log standings is not good at the moment and we need those points on offer. Our next match is against Pirates and if you want to be the best, you must beat the best.”
The outspoken tactician made it known that Pirates do not scare them even though his side are yet to defeat the Buccaneers in a league match since the Limpopo side’s promotion to the top flight under his guidance in 2016.
“That’s how the game goes. It will be eleven against eleven on the pitch. Some of these teams are just big names but they don’t scare us because we are here to compete against anyone,” he continued.
“We just need to prepare ourselves very well. The most important thing is to make sure that we don’t concede against Pirates but at the same time we have to score goals. If we do that in the coming matches, we will be fine.”
