Orlando Pirates forward Justin Shonga admits the Buccaneers had to dig deep in order to secure 4-2 victory over Chippa United on Saturday.

The Buccaneers moved up to second in the Absa Premiership standings with 36 points, closing the gap on Mamelodi Sundowns to just four points after 22 matches played so far this campaign.

The Zambian international believes his side maintained their focus and fought hard to claim all three points at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.

“We had to dig deep, push each other and we knew it’s going to come if we keep on working hard and it finally paid off,” Shonga told SuperSport TV after the game.

“We just had to push each other because we knew we were not playing at home but away. So we had to keep focus and maintain it.

“We were just looking for that one goal and maintain it thereafter.”

Shonga says he just kept his composure throughout to find the back of the net twice as they practiced during training.

“I just adopted composure because we work on it every time at training and we try to play the ball at the far post. I tried that and it worked out today,” he added.

Orlando Pirates will be hoping to continue their winning form when they take on Kaizer Chiefs in a Soweto derby at the FNB Stadium on Saturday, with kick-off set for 15:30.

Photo: Backpagepix