Orlando Pirates have a gruelling week to look forward to that involves lengthy travel to Gabon for a CAF Confederation Cup clash and a slow crawl home for their league game against University of Pretoria next Friday.

Pirates leave for their Confederation Cup second round, first leg tie against CF Mounana of Gabon tomorrow, but will only return to South Africa next Wednesday, 48 hours before they take on AmaTuks.

While Tuesday's loss at Bidvest Wits ended any slender hopes they might have had of being involved in the championship title race, the hectic schedule will put more pressure on the side, said coach Eric Tinkler.

"It's going to be a long trip and a difficult trip [to Gabon]," Tinkler said. "It's actually quite ridiculous that we leave on Friday and only come back next week on Wednesday. Then we are expected to play Tuks on Friday. I get one day to prepare the team. It's crazy."

He then perhaps offered some words of advice for his bosses.

"When we think about these things, going into Africa, then I think the travel needs to be made a lot easier than what it is now."

The reality is that the Confederation Cup offers nowhere near the glamour or the financial rewards that the CAF Champions League could potentially bring, and the expense of chartering a plane does not make this viable. The match against Mounana will be played on Sunday at 4.30pm.

Bucs are scheduled to arrive back at OR Tambo at 5.15am on Wednesday morning.