De Sa steadies the Bucs ship.

Roger De Sa has two wins out of two as the new Orlando Pirates coach, but just as important, he says, are the two clean sheets his side has kept...

Pirates followed up their 1-0 away win against Platinum Stars with a convincing 2-0 victory over Ajax Cape Town on Tuesday night.

Before De Sa's appointment, the Bucs had been bleeding goals - notably with back-to-back 3-0 home defeats to SuperSport United and Moroka Swallows. De Sa said that the support of the players around his centre-backs had been the key to the improvement in defence.

"I think one of the problems was the full-backs - they used to just fly up front and expose the two centre-backs. They're more disciplined now, and if one goes then the other one stays," the coach said.

"Andile Jali has stayed a lot more disciplined and stays in front of the defence now. And that's all we had to really work on because the two centre-backs are quality, and they just needed a bit more support around them."

Pirates have grown in strength in De Sa's two matches, even if they're nowhere near the capacity they are capable of.

The coach admitted he was worried his side might not get the result they wanted on Tuesday after a first half where Tlou Segolela and Thulasizwe Mbuyane both missed sitters.

Bucs eventually did score from a shot scythed in from just outside the area in the 53rd minute by Sifiso Myeni, and substitute Takesure Chinyama added a second deep into injury time with a strike from 30 metres.

"It was a moment of magic from Sifiso - he doesn't score those very often," De Sa said.

"Then we got our confidence back and started to play a bit more. And hopefully we can get a bit more confident now. Because I think it is just a confidence thing."

For Ajax, it was a third defeat in five matches. The 2010-11 runners-up finished ninth last season and, on the evidence of a largely flat performance against Bucs, coach Maarten Stekelenburg has some work to do for the Urban Warriors to make the top eight this season.

"We started the game well - the organisation looked good," Stekelenburg said. "But you also saw in one or two moments when we were not organised that they have quick players up front. And when you don't communicate well and spaces open, they are dangerous.

"Overall we didn't create enough chances. Pirates made the space quite tight and going forward you need a high-quality [finisher]."

De Sa said of the injuries to right-back Happy Jele and striker Benni McCarthy: "Happy strained his other quad when he came back and is almost ready. Benni will probably be another five weeks. It's a bad hamstring tear and is going to take time."