Sekhukhune United target attacking improvement against Orlando Pirates

Sekhukhune United coach Cedric Kaze says his side must be more precise in attack when they face Orlando Pirates again on Tuesday, just four days after suffering a narrow defeat to the Buccaneers in the MTN8 semi-final first leg.

The two teams meet at Old Peter Mokaba Stadium in a Betway Premiership fixture, with Sekhukhune looking to produce a different result against the defending league champions. Deon Hotto scored the only goal when Pirates won the opening cup encounter at the same venue on Saturday.

The clubs will then return to MTN8 action next Saturday, when they complete the semi-final at Orlando Stadium. Sekhukhune must overcome their one-goal deficit to progress, but Kaze’s immediate priority is helping Babina Noko improve their attacking performance in Tuesday’s league meeting.

The coach believes his players need to make sharper runs around the edge of the opposition penalty area and show greater calm when chances arise. He also wants better technical execution in the final third.

“We need to work more on our last third entries and have more composure, have more movements and have better technical accuracies. But I’m hoping that we’re going to get better,” said Kaze.

Although Sekhukhune were beaten on Saturday, Kaze was encouraged by the response after half-time. His team produced more attacking pressure in the second period and, in his view, controlled the game for long spells, but Pirates’ defence held firm to preserve its slender advantage.

“I feel like we had a better second half. We were the better team in the second half,” he said.

That performance has given Kaze belief that Sekhukhune can carry greater confidence into the league match. He is urging his players to trust their approach from the start rather than allowing Saturday’s result to affect their mindset.

“We need to bring that into the next game and go in with a positive mindset from the beginning and trust ourselves, trust our plan,” he said.

“And I hope and I’m pretty sure that we will do better.”

Tuesday’s fixture provides Sekhukhune with a chance to respond before attention turns back to the cup. While the MTN8 second leg has the greater immediate consequence in terms of qualification, a positive league result against Pirates could give Babina Noko the belief required to overturn the deficit at Orlando Stadium.

Kaze’s side will therefore be focused on correcting the attacking weaknesses that limited their reward in the first meeting. They created more opportunities after the interval but could not find a way through a disciplined Pirates defence.

Orlando Pirates may rotate their squad because of the demanding schedule and the two matches against Sekhukhune within four days. That could give Babina Noko an opportunity to make their pressure count, provided they can improve their movement, finishing and accuracy in the final third.