Ramatsiyi Moholoa

Orlando Pirates are excited that their top goal scorer, Excellent "Slender" Walaza and defender Happy Jele are back from a one-match suspension.

The duo are expected to be part of the team that will travel to Mangaung on Wednesday for an Absa Premiership match against Bloemfontein Celtic.

Walaza, who has rattled the net 10 times in the Premiership, and Jele missed their goalless draw against Golden Arrows at Johannesburg Stadium on Saturday night.

"We played well against Arrows, especially in the second half where we did our utmost best to get goals," said Owen da Gama, Bucs' coach.

"Even if we continued playing for another hour, we would have hit the poles 10 times and the goalkeeper would have used his hands and feet to save.

"The game against Celtic will be a tough one, we will give it our best shot. Supporters want to see the players fighting on the field."

Incidentally, Da Gama began his job as coach of Pirates last September with an away game against the same Celtic in the Premiership where they won 3-0.

Manqoba Mnqithi, Arrows' coach, said: "We are happy with the performance and not the result, we should have wrapped it up in the first half. The plan for us is to continue fighting until the end of the season. We want to finish on a respectable position on the log."

It was a game of missed opportunities, which also saw the enterprising Arrows maintain their unbeaten run of six games in the second round.

Arrows were dominant in the first half where Abia Nale and Papi Zothwane were impressive.

But Bucs fought back gallantly in the second half when they bombarded goalkeeper Nkosana Maseko's goal. At the end of the night, a draw was a fair result.

Fixtures: Tomorrow - SuperSport United v Ajax Cape Town; Santos v Wits

Wednesday - Arrows v Sundowns, Jomo Cosmos v FS Stars, Leopards v Swallows, Kaizer Chiefs v Platinum Stars, Thanda Royal Zulu v AmaZulu.