Zinnbauer expects home win but also tough fight from Swallows

There might have much churn at Swallows FC over the last weeks with players coming and going but that does not fool Orlando Pirates coach Joe Zinnbauer, whose side meet them in the MTN8 quarterfinal at the weekend.

“Swallows have a lot of new players but I think their coach has his starting line-up in his head and he has options. I think it’s a little bit open and we’ve prepared the players to expect one or two different approaches against us,” said Zinnbauer on Wednesday as he previewed Saturday’s game at the Orlando Stadium.

“They have a strong team even though they’ve lost a lot of players and they’ve got good quality for the season. But we also have.

“Our preparations have gone in a good direction but we are not yet finished. We worked on integrating the new players first and now we have moved forward to the next phase and the players have done this well. We will see what happens on Saturday but it’s a home game and we expect a win,” added Zinnbauer.

“We won the title last season and like the other clubs in the top eight we want to win it again.

Pirates’ supporters can also expect that there will be changes to their side after pre-season marketplace activity.

“Last week we tried to use some of the new players in a friendly game and we changed a few things. Competition for places is open as we have not yet finished the pre-season,” he said.

“I see the MTN8 as part of the pre-season. Normally only after your second or third league game can you consider it finished, especially as we have a lot of players in our squad at the moment and we have to give them all a chance. For me the MTN8 is not the starting line-up for the next weeks. We have a lot of good players, some of them need a little bit more time. There is now good competition in the squad and for places in the starting line-up.”