Orlando Pirates captain Innocent Maela has conceded they aren’t happy with their league position going into his first Soweto Derby against Kaizer Chiefs as the team leader.
Maela assumed the role as skipper after the departure of long-serving Happy Jele and has become one of the cornerstone figures of their defence in the new-look 3-4-2-1 formation under head coach Jose Riveiro.
The back-line has been one of the positive points of the season thus far as they’ve only conceded six goals in 12 league games but with only nine scored, they find themselves six points behind league leaders Mamelodi Sundowns and having played one game more than the reigning champions.
“Our position is not as good as we’d like it be, but we know that there are three points at stake just like any other match and we need to go into this making sure we collect it, prepare as hard as we can, and make sure we become victorious on Saturday,” he said ahead of the derby as they are one place and a point ahead of Chiefs.
“Not only me as a captain but everyone at the club, playing a Soweto derby will always have pressure, it comes with a lot of pressure but we are confident we’ll do well, we believe in the team, we believe in the structure that we created. And for us as players, it’s about going out there and executing the plan.”
With more than 90% of the squad set to play their first derby in front of a sold-out FNB Stadium on Saturday evening, Maela represents one of the few figures who understand what it takes to handle the pressures that be and he admits he’s offered a word of advice to some of the novices within the Buccaneers set-up.
“I always encourage the guys to focus on their game, do the right thing when you play, trust the team, don’t try to be a star or play in isolation because it doesn’t work, so I always encourage the new players that they must always believe in what the team is trying to do and your time will come to shine,” he continued when addressing journalists at the PSL headquarters on Thursday afternoon.
“It’s very important for us to win on Saturday because it will give us that boost of confidence, but however, I don’t believe that if we don’t get the win, it will disturb our momentum, one match doesn’t define your season. But it’s important that we win and collect all three points, just like any other league match.”
The 30-year-old Bafana Bafana defender has amassed 156 games for the Pirates first-team since returning to the club after a stint in KwaZulu Natal with the now-defunct Thanda Royal Zulu.
