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united wary of bucs

MARITZBURG United look poised to add to Orlando Pirates' woes tomorrow when the Team of Choice visit the Buccaneers at Orlando Stadium.

MARITZBURG United look poised to add to Orlando Pirates' woes tomorrow when the Team of Choice visit the Buccaneers at Orlando Stadium.

Gordon Igesund's outfit look to be pulling themselves out of the slump they were going through earlier, which was punctuated by a 5-1 hammering at the hands of Mamelodi Sundowns last month.

They have since collected five points in their past three matches, including a draw away to Free State Stars.

No self-respecting local player needs any extra motivation when Pirates are in the firing line and it is no different with Igesund's charges.

"The players are very hungry and determined to get something out of the match," Igesund said yesterday.

The turnaround at United comes at a time when Pirates' fortunes have been going south.

They struggled to come to terms with the game plans of celebrated Absa Premiership coaches Boebie Solomons (Santos), Gavin Hunt (SuperSport United) and Neil Tovey (AmaZulu).

Having last won against Platinum Stars on September 23, a win is a distant memory to Bucs.

But Igesund knows better than to get excited about that.

"We are facing the mighty Pirates, remember. They are a very talented team. I watched them against (Kaizer) Chiefs and thought they played well. They have a very good coach.

"Of course we want to get something out of this match and have planned accordingly and hopefully we can," said Igesund, who also said he was not fooled by Teko Modise's so-called bad form.

The Team of Choice have been unlucky with players like Byron Hendricks and Rudolph Bester not available, but their return should boost the likes of Fadlu Davids and Brice Aka.

The Buccaneers' misery has been compounded by Benson Mhlongo's knee injury that could sideline him for the rest of the season.

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