Orlando Pirates’ caretaker coach Augusto Palacios says it was crucial for his team to win away over Chippa United in Port Elizabeth on Tuesday to ensure a winning mentality for the weekend’s cup clash. “To win this game against one of the more difficult teams in the league was always going to be very difficult‚" he said after the narrow 1-0 win over struggling Chippa at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium."Chippa are a team who play among the more traditional football in South Africa‚ who keep the ball on the ground and who have mobility."They are hard to play against."I was very happy with the character the players showed on the field."Given all the circumstances against us‚ every one in our team tried their best and to make good competition and now we have a winning mentality for us to go to the Telkom Knockout with." Palacios said there had been total focus on the league encounter‚ which lifted the Buccaneers to fifth place in the Absa Premiership standings.Pirates meet SuperSport United in the semifinals of the Telkom Knockout at the Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit‚ which is the same venue where they lost 6-1 to Stuart Baxter’s team at the start of the month.Bucs have since won three in a row under Palacios’ leadership after the departure of Muhsin Ertugral.“We never talked about SuperSport before the game‚" Palacios said."We have been taking it game by game."But as soon as the game against Chippa was over‚ we were only talking about SuperSport.” As for his own future‚ the caretaker boss said he had been given no time frame for his tenure in charge of the team‚ which is the fifth time he has filled in as acting coach for Pirates.“I’ve been at Pirates for 21 years and my job is to help the club in any way I can."There is no time mandate."I’m only worried about the next game."But more important is the contribution from the players‚” added Palacios. - TMG Digital..