Jele confident of Pirates progression in Caf CL

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Orlando Pirates captain Happy Jele is confident that the Soweto giants will get a favourable result in Namibia against African Stars which will seal their progression to the next round of the CAF Champions League.

Pirates surprised many with their inability to convert their chances after being held to a goalless draw at home to the Namibian minnows in the first leg of the clash at Orlando Stadium.

Jele acknowledged that a victory at home would have been an ideal result, however the veteran defender has backed Pirates to come away with a victory despite playing against a highly-defensive side on an artificial turf in Windhoek.

‘Ideally we would have preferred to win the match at home convincingly but we played against a good defensive side. They were compact and well organised at the back,’ Jele told the club’s official website.

‘It is true that we missed a lot of chances and that is regrettable but the flip side of that is that we played positive attacking football despite the defensive block we had to contend with.

‘The fact that we were able to create chances tells us that it is possible to penetrate their defence and that is what we are preparing for,’ he added.

Jele also revealed how the club took special precautions in a bid to acclimatise to the condition which they will face in Namibia.

‘We know it won’t be a walk in the park but we are prepared to fight and do whatever it takes to come out tops here.

‘We have been training at the Nike Centre in Soweto this week in order to acclimatise to the conditions because we know the match will be played on astroturf and in extremely hot conditions,” he revealed.

‘We have done all we can to prepare adequately and now all that is left is to go and get the job done,’ he concluded.

The two sides are expected to do duty at the Sam Nujoma Stadium on Saturday afternoon with kick off set for 4pm.

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Marshall Gouts