Jose Riveiro’s plan to counter distractions ahead of Hungry Lions game

Pirates players are still very high on confidence after registering their first double over archrivals Kaizer Chiefs in the Dstv Premiership in 16 years, beating them 3-2 last week.

READ: Richards Bay trip a banana peel for SuperSport United

As they welcome Hungry Lions at Orlando stadium tomorrow evening (18:00),

Riveiro has devised a plan to refocus his charges.

''One of the problems for a team like us is destructions, people are still talking about the Soweto Derby.

''If we want to win on Saturday, we need to focus and find ourselves in the next match,'' said Riveiro.

The Spanish-born coach, who has a proud record of having won three of the four cup competitions he’s competed for with Pirates, says they will do all they can to get the players psyched up for this game.

''So, it's our responsibility to keep them on the right track and motivate them to understand the main responsibility on Saturday.

''We want to be in the next round and defend our title,'' added Riveiro.

Last season, Pirates had to dig deep in the Nedbank Cup when they were searching for the footage of their lower division opposition in this tournament as they faced All Stars, Venda Academy, and Dondol Stars.

The slight difference with Hungry Lions is that the Northern Cape-based side has had their league games recently against Milford FC and AmaTuks televised.

Riveiro says it’s been easier to follow their opponents this time around and shares what they have observed about them.

''This time is much more easy to find out information about the opponents, so the game is balanced - we know each other very well,'' he concluded.

Lions are one of the toughest teams to face from the National First Division (NFD), a hard-running, unpredictable, and skillful bunch of players.

They are currently sixth on the log, with 31 points from 21 matches, just six points outside the play-off spot. Riveiro expects a competitive game against the second-tier side.