Posted in News on Apr 29, 2004.
A repeat of the performance in the first round encounter will see Amakhosi stretch the lead to eight points with five matches to go. Second-placed Ajax Cape town lost valuable ground when they lost 1-0 to Golden Arrows on Wednesday.
Speaking at a media briefing at the stadium on Wednesday, Pirates coach Augusto Palacios said they were determined to bring Amakhosi down to earth.
"We are bracing ourselves for a tough match on Saturday, it is the biggest match of them all in South African football. What makes it even worse is that Chiefs are challenging for the championship title," said Palacios.
"I would like to warn them not to expect favours, we are going to surprise them if they expect us to donate the three points to them. We also need a win to protect our brand."
His sentiments were echoed by Pirates general manager and former Bafana Bafana assistant coach Phil Setshedi.
"It's pay back time, Chiefs beat us 1-0 in the first round in December, we had a goal disallowed during that match. We are going to punish them heavily this time around," said Setshedi.
"Our players went on a rampage thinking that they were playing against Chiefs when we walloped Saint Michel of Seychelles (5-1) at the weekend because the two sides wear similar colours.
"It turned out that we were playing against the Chiefs' reserves. We are going to finish off the real Chiefs on Saturday,
they are definitely in big trouble," he added.
Speaking on behalf of Chiefs, general manager Bobby Motaung said they were fired-up to win Saturday's game and move a step closer to clinching their first Premiership title in 12 years.
"It will be a great day of football for the supporters, we have been training hard for the Soweto derby and are ready to tear Pirates to pieces," said Motaung.
Asked what were the latest developments regarding the wayward Jabu Pule, a furious Motaung pleaded with the media that their focus was on the game.
"We are not thinking about Jabu at this stage, our main objective is to win the league for our supporters who have been loyal to the club by coming to our matches in big numbers."
Pule, the Bafana Bafana midfielder, was dropped from the team on the eve of the match against Silver Stars in Johannesburg last weekend because of alleged contract problems.
The gifted Pule is reported to have refused signing a new contract with the club, saying he wanted to further his career overseas, according to his agent Mike Makaab.
In the absence of Pule, Chiefs' technical staff have introduced the young Junior Khanye who has been doing well.
FNB Stadium general manager Dennis Mumble has urged supporters to buy tickets early at the Computicket outlets. He said security will be tight on the day of the match.
