Orlando Pirates have the track record on the road to earn the result they need in Sousse on Sunday, coach Eric Tinkler confidently insisted after his side could only manage a 1-1 draw against Etoile Sportive du Sahel at Orlando Stadium.

Pirates had a crucial 1-0 lead in Saturday night's first leg of their CAF Confederation Cup final that would have put them in the driving seat, and Etoile under pressure, in Sunday's second leg in Tunisia.

But Thamsanqa Gabuza's 36th-minute strike was cancelled out by Etoile captain Ammar Jemal's 87th-minute equaliser. "Conceding at home is what we didn't want to do. But more importantly, we didn't want to lose either. If you lose 1-0 you have to go there and look for two goals," Tinkler said.

"Now we have to go there and get an away goal. But that would put us back into the lead and back in the tie.

"We're a good team away from home. Every trip we've managed to score. And I'm very proud of the boys ... I think it was just a lapse in concentration towards the end."

Among the permutations are that Pirates will need a 1-1 draw to go to penalties, draw by a higher margin to win on away goals, or victory by any scoreline. Etoile have won six out of seven games at home, drawing the other. Bucs have won three and drawn two out of seven matches away.

The Buccaneers' most important player in attack was tied up by Etoile on Saturday, and Tinkler knows for Pirates to stand a chance in Sousse, Kermit Erasmus will probably need to find a way to be influential. "Kermit never had his best game. He knew that - you could see it on his face in the changing room," Tinkler said. "He was obviously going to be a marked man. But that happens to top players."