Sekhukhune United assistant coach Paulus Masehe urges bold approach against Orlando Pirates

Sekhukhune United assistant coach Paulus Masehe says his side must attack Orlando Pirates in Saturday’s second leg of their MTN8 semi-final after suffering two defeats by the Buccaneers in the space of three days.

Sekhukhune were beaten by Pirates in the first leg and then lost to the same opponents again in their latest encounter, leaving the Limpopo club one goal behind ahead of the decisive cup fixture.

Masehe believes there were still positive elements in the most recent performance which Sekhukhune can use as they attempt to overturn the deficit and reach the MTN8 final.

“To be honest with you, in patches there were good performances that we should really focus on to try to build on towards the cup game because we have to give our all again on Saturday because we’re one goal down,” Masehe told SuperSport TV.

The assistant coach said the circumstances had forced Sekhukhune to take an aggressive approach, with progression to the final now dependent on finding a way past Pirates.

“There’s nothing that’s left us besides taking the game to Pirates and that would be the motivation itself and to also give ourselves a better chance to get the final and I think also second half you could see also, we tried to rest our starters so that at least they can be a little bit fresher.

“It’s a bit difficult situation, but we’re professionals we have to do this.”

The decision to manage the workload of some of Sekhukhune’s regular starters came as the club prepared for another meeting with Pirates so soon after the previous two matches.

Masehe acknowledged the difficulty of the situation but said the team had to deal with the demanding schedule as professionals. The second leg represents Sekhukhune’s opportunity to recover from the consecutive defeats and secure a place in the competition’s final.

The club will also be without head coach Cedric Kaze on the touchline after he was sent off during the second half of their latest match.

Masehe described the dismissal as the result of an unfortunate misunderstanding between Kaze and the fourth official, and said he did not believe the comments that led to the punishment warranted a red card.

“I think it was just an unfortunate incident that happened, it was a little bit of a misunderstanding between our coach and the fourth official.

“I honestly don’t think that whatever he said deserved the punishment. But however, there’s nothing that we can say,” the coach added.

Sekhukhune must now prepare for a third successive match against Orlando Pirates, with a place in the MTN8 final at stake and a one-goal deficit to overturn.