Orlando Pirates captain, Innocent Maela is wary of the strength AmaZulu posses, ahead of the MTN8 final, set to be staged at Moses Mabhida Stadium on Saturday.
Maela has come out to outline the strength of AmaZulu under the guidance of Romain Folz, and stresses the Buccaneers are prepared to nullify Usuthu.
“We have an opportunity to play in the Final, we have an opportunity to play for a trophy,” Maela told the media at the Rand Stadium.
“It’s been a very emotional week but the most important thing as players, is to focus on our training sessions and focus on the next task.
“We focused on the next match because it’s the most important thing for us, we just need to make sure we are fully focused during training sessions.
“From the previous match we played against AmaZulu in the league, we noticed that they play on transition, they leave top players high up the pitch.
“It’s still early in the week, but we know what we need to do to nullify them and their strength which is transition, and we’ll work on it,” said Maela.
The 30-year old defender was stretched off early in the first half during the Soweto derby encounter against Kaizer Chiefs, after sustaining a hamstring injury.
The former Thanda Royal Zulu skipper has given an update on his injury, going into the eagerly awaited MTN8 Final.
“Obviously everyone saw in the derby that I picked a niggling injury, but we still busy with the team doctor, it’s still early to tell but I’m feeling good and confident. We’ll see as the week progresses but nothing is confirmed yet,” he added.
Pirates will be looking to put the disappointment of the recent derby loss behind them, when they face AmaZulu in the MTN8 Final on Saturday. Kickoff is at 18:00.
