Birds look sink Pirates ship

Added: Wednesday, November 02, 2011 (11:24)

Moroka Swallows and Orlando Pirates will be looking to set Soweto alight when the two sides meet in an Absa Premiership clash at Orlando Stadium on Wednesday night.

This Derby, which pits the two oldest Soweto giants against each other is scheduled to kick-off at 19h30.

A win for the Birds, who are currently 3rd on the log, could be enough to see them at the summit come Thursday morning, while the Buccaneers need full points to keep the gap between them and the top four teams from increasing any further than it is.

The Birds will be armed with a number of experienced players including Siyabonga Nomvethe, Joseph Makhanya and Bennett Chenene, all of whom have donned the Pirates jersey before, and Pirates know they need to be wary against such a tactical side.

Swallows defender Ashraf Hendricks says his side are not taking anything for granted despite their recent run of form which has seen them scoring three goals in each of their last three matches.

"It's going to be a good game against Pirates, which is the original Soweto Derby. Both of us are in good form so this is a very exciting week for us all,” said Hendricks.

"Obviously our last result against Ajax Cape Town was a good one, but we are not happy at how we conceded the two late goals (Swallows won 3-2).”

The two sides will meet again in a cup game three days later, but Hendricks says they’ll be focusing on one match at a time.

"We're going to go out there for a win, but we know it is an away game so we don't have to be silly because we also play Pirates in the cup on the weekend, having said that, we are planning to go out there on Wednesday as a full strength side,” ‘Robocop’ says.

“We will hold nothing back in the League game because we want the points. And whatever happens thereafter must just happen."