Orlando Pirates coach Josef Zinnbauer wary of the threat posed by struggling Maritzburg United

Orlando Pirates coach Josef Zinnbauer is wary of struggling Maritzburg United.

Zinnbauer is well aware that the Bucs will face a potential banana skin when they travel to KwaZulu-Natal to tackle the Pietermaritzburg side in a Nedbank Cup last-16 clash at the Harry Gwala Stadium on Saturday.

Though they are struggling at the foot of the DStv Premiership standings‚ Maritzburg are still capable of causing an upset and demolishing Pirates' chances of pursuing a second trophy of the season.

Maritzburg have only won one match in their last six in all competitions and this was against GladAfrica Championship side Sekhukhune United en route to this stage of the competition.

“We know that they are in the relegation zone but this game is not about the log standings‚ it is a cup match and cup matches are always different to league matches‚” said Zinnbauer.

“I know players have the motivation to progress to the next round and this can give a team the motivation to go for a win. This means that we have to be completely focused on the game.

“We know that Maritzburg are faced with a situation where they must fight in all their games‚ especially at home. Having said that‚ we know this club and the coach and we also know that they work hard‚ they run and fight for results.

“This is a cup game where if you win then you are in the next round‚ we have to fight for all the space on the field.”

Pirates have been inconsistent this season and they find themselves six points behind log-leaders Mamelodi Sundowns in the league, having played two more matches.

Zinnbauer said there are various reasons behind the inconsistency.

“We had a situation where there were a lot of new players‚ and also we didn’t have a normal preseason. We had to integrate players and we had a lot of injured players.

“Today we have six attackers or offensive players out injured and this is not easy.

“We have players on the field who are not typical strikers, like Deon Hotto‚ who is playing as a striker, but he is not a striker - we know him as a full-back or a winger. And we are using Vincent Pule as a striker‚ but he is not a striker. Both of them have scored goals in the last games‚ which is good for us‚ even though they are not strikers.”