Morale seems to be high in the Orlando Pirates camp ahead of the mouth-watering clash against Bloemfontein Celtic in the lucrative Telkom Knockout Cup clash at the weekend.

After a good-humored two hours of training at the Johannesburg Stadium earlier today, Bucs’ most instrumental players gave Orlandopiratesfc.com a hint of how the team will perform when they host Siwelele at the Orlando Stadium on Saturday evening.

The huge gap left in the team with the departure of Teko Modise, Moeneeb Josephs, Lucas Thwala, Thulasizwe Mbuyane, Gert Skalkwyk and Andile Jali, is however not a case of concern according to the rest of the team.

Josephy Kamwendo

On the Bafana Bafana players “For me the departure of the players came as a good thing because I will be able to play more regularly… you might know that I have been longing for ‘game-time’ for too long, now I will finally be able to play more often.”

On Saturday’s match: “ That will obviously be a game that we will not want to lose. The only problem we have been battling with is converting our chances. If we can get that right on Saturday, then we stand a great chance to win. I have been with the team for three seasons and I only won the Charity Cup… I definitely need more than that.”

Dikgang Mabalane

On the Bafana Bafana players: “The players who left for the national team have left an opportunity for the other guys to step up and grab their chance. I am sure the players here know that such opportunities do not come around too often with the (regulars) guys doing well. Enough was said about lack of game time, now we have to show what we can offer to the team.”

On Saturday’s match: “I prefer to comment on this one on the field. It is difficult… it is like, you lose you go; so… I would rather sweat on the field and comment in the end irrespective of the result. To be fairs it is up to us! We are all aware that the team needs a trophy.”

Senzo Meyiwa

On the Bafana Bafana players: “To play at Pirates you have to be a quality player, and I have confidence in the guys that are here. We can do a good job on Saturday if we stick together and work for one another… it is going to be tough (without the national team players) but we have no other option but to fight with what we have got.”

On Saturday’s match: “There will be pressure on us because our supporters were looking forward to the PSL title which we failed to win, but we have good players whom I am confident can match Celtic on Saturday.”

Katlego Mashego

On the Bafana Bafana players: “I feel that the responsibility in me personally has increased… there will be new guys getting a run in the team and they look up to us to be guided on the field, so… regardless of who is here or who is not, we will have to (fight) do it together. We lost key players, but we are still a solid side.”

On Saturday’s match: “Nothing much can be said of how we will come up in this game… it is a game where teams will go there to win anyhow… a win takes you to the next round and it sets you well on track for the trophy… we know what we’ve got to do… the league is gone, now we’ve got a new challenge.”

Meanwhile, tickets for this eagerly anticipated cup clash are already on sale at Computicket and Shoprite/Checkers outlets nationwide.

The game will be played at the Orlando Stadium and the match kicks off at 20h15.