'Derby to fire up Bucs'

There is no better game to lift Orlando Pirates' wounded spirits than the Soweto derby, says caretaker-coach Eric Tinkler ahead of his side's Absa Premiership match-up against Kaizer Chiefs at FNB Stadium tomorrow.

Having already endured the tragic murder of captain Senzo Meyiwa, Pirates had to suffer the further trauma of Vladimir Vermezovic resigning as coach on Wednesday.

Assistant coach Tinkler now takes charge of the team as caretaker for the second time in a year, in the hope that the derby will galvanise the Buccaneers.

Said the former Bafana Bafana midfielder: "Naturally we come in as the underdogs.

"Chiefs have been on fire - they're unbeaten and coming off a good win against Wits. It's going to be an extremely tough game for us.

"Our performances haven't been that great since the passing of Senzo. Now with the coach leaving, it becomes very important for me to try to rebuild the morale. And there's no better game to do it than in the derby.

"Everyone's motivated. Even though I played overseas I never played in front of 90000 people.

"At club level there are not many bigger games in the world."

Tinkler has tried to work on tightening Bucs' all-round play.

He said: "The way we've been conceding goals; the types of mistakes we've been making. These are things we actually practise on, so that is a concern. We've conceded nine goals from set pieces. We're playing against a team that scores a lot of goals from set pieces, so we'll have to be at our best rectifying that."

Amakhosi, who have conceded just five goals in 19 league and cup games, dispatched fellow league contenders Wits 3-0 at Milpark.

Bernard Parker returned to form in a big way for Chiefs with an excellent brace against Wits.

Coach Stuart Baxter kept top scorer George Lebese on the bench as a tactical move.

Said Baxter: "But George has been playing well and looking good in training. He's a candidate for Saturday - it just depends how we want to play."

Chiefs practically bullied Pirates off the pitch in a 1-0 MTN8 final victory in Durban in September.

Baxter said of that game and the one to come: "You've got to be flexible. We started the game against Wits one way, and ended it in a different way. And I'm sure during the derby we're going to have to adapt.

"But I always say the supporting walls of a house never change.

"You can shift a door from here to there, but don't shift the supporting walls."