Ouaddou vows Pirates will bounce back after Sekhukhune loss

Orlando Pirates coach Abdeslam Ouaddou was happy with some aspects of the team’s performance in their 1-0 defeat to Sekhukhune in the league opener at Orlando Stadium on Saturday.

Siphesihle Mkhize’s solitary strike in the 48th minute sank Pirates, who came into the match high on confidence after a convincing 2-0 win in the MTN8 quarterfinals against Polokwane City at the same venue the previous Saturday.

“I think we’ve seen some interesting things in this game. Despite losing, we don’t have to throw away some interesting things. But, of course, we’ve started the league campaign badly. It’s not the way we wanted to start,” Ouaddou said.

The Sea Robbers coach insisted that all wasn’t lost as the league is a marathon, and he believes he has the right tools to take the club to the next level.

“It [the loss] doesn’t give me a different picture of my boys. We have quality, I still say. This is just a bad start, we will come back.”

Ouaddou explained why he dropped Bandile Shandu for debutant Tshepo Mashiloane at right-back, lauding the latter for his contribution against Babina Noko, despite being criticised by the fans.

“It was a choice based on the type of opponent we faced. We knew that they [Sekhukhune] are dangerous on set pieces, and we wanted to bring some size [height] in our team, and Mashiloane had an interesting game. He was interesting and we have to give him credit and keep believing in him,” Ouaddou said. .

Pirates will hope to collect their maiden league win of the season when they face Ouaddou’s former side, Marumo Gallants, at Dr Molemela Stadium on Tuesday (7.30pm).

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