As the title race reaches a fever pitch, Abdeslam Ouaddou has shared his thoughts on a testing 10-day period that sees Pirates navigate back-to-back Betway Premiership encounters with Mamelodi Sundowns and Kaizer Chiefs.
The Pirates coach has refused to view the upcoming Betway Premiership games against Sundowns and Chiefs as title deciders.
The Buccaneers host Sundowns at FNB Stadium on Wednesday, before the much-anticipated Soweto Derby against Amakhosi 10 days later. The games come as the PSL title race is heating up.
Having played 16 league games so far, Pirates are six points clear at the top of the standings, while Masandawana are second, but they have played a game less than the leaders. Chiefs are fourth with two points fewer than Sundowns and third-placed Sekhukhune United.
The league race has reached a stage where dropping points could be costly to a team’s title ambitions. Pirates now prepare to face Sundowns and Chiefs in what could be some brutal 10 days.
Sandwiched between the Buccaneers’ fixtures against Sudowns and Chiefs is this weekend’s Nedbank Cup Round of 16 confrontation with Casric Stars at Orlando Amstel Arena. Ouaddou and his men will then meet Amakhosi again on April 25.
However, the Moroccan coach is not entertaining the thought that beating Sundowns and Chiefs in the upcoming 10 days will wrap up the PSL title matters for them.
PIRATES’ CRUCIAL 10 DAYS UNDER SPOTLIGHT AS SUNDOWNS AND CHIEFS LIE IN WAIT
In denying that victories over Sundowns and Chiefs will leave Pirates home and dry, Ouaddou went proverbial, revisiting the French adage, “You don’t have to sell the bear skin before killing the bear.”
The former Fulham centre-back then opted for the cliche “game after game, step by step” in describing their approach to business in this PSL title quest.
“We play game after game, we know exactly what we want, we know which target we want to reach,” said Ouaddou.
“We don’t have to think about what happens in three or four months. We just have one vision, but we need to go step by step. It’s very important to get match by match.”
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