• Pirates lead Sekhukhune 1-0 before Saturday’s MTN8 semifinal second leg as they chase a fifth straight final.

• Abdeslam Ouaddou says Pirates were lucky to beat Sekhukhune 2-0 in the league and must play much better.

Orlando Pirates coach Abdeslam Ouaddou has warned his players that their place in the MTN8 final is far from secure.

Pirates host Sekhukhune United in the second leg of their semifinal at Orlando Amstel Arena on Saturday at 3pm.

It will be the teams’ third meeting in seven days.

Pirates won the first leg 1-0 before beating Sekhukhune 2-0 in the Betway Premiership on Tuesday.

But Ouaddou was unhappy with the league performance.

He felt Sekhukhune had been the better team and Pirates did not deserve the victory.

That was very different from his view of the first-leg win.

Ouaddou praised Pirates’ organisation, discipline and fighting spirit in that match and believed they could have won by two or three goals.

Now he wants that level of performance again.

Pirates are chasing a fifth straight MTN8 final after winning the competition four years in a row.

But Ouaddou warned that another final will not come easily if his players cannot solve the problems Sekhukhune caused them on Tuesday.

Sekhukhune will be without coach Cedric Kaze on the touchline after he was sent off during the league match.

Assistant coach Paulus Masehe expects Pirates to stick to their normal style.

He said Sekhukhune showed much more confidence on Tuesday by taking the game to Pirates.

Masehe believes that performance showed improvement from their first-leg defeat and should give Sekhukhune belief heading into Saturday’s decisive match.

Pictured above: Orlando Pirates players.

Image source: @orlandopirates