Swallows coach Brandon Truter hopes his side will build on their 1-1 draw against Bloemfontein Celtic on Tuesday when they host Orlando Pirates in the DStv Premiership match at Dobsonville Stadium on Saturday.

Despite the draw against Celtic, Truter was pleased with his side's performance away from home. “It is a point away from home, and for John [Maduka, Celtic coach] it's two dropped at home, so I will take it,” Truter told the club's media department after the game.

“For up to 60 or 70 minutes, it was a good football. But I respect Celtic and John for the football they are playing, and well done to the boys.”

Kgaogelo Sekgota had given Swallows the lead when he picked up a misplaced pass from goalkeeper Sipho Chaine to volley home in the second half, but Neo Maema equalised three minutes later to make sure they shared the points.

The draw was Swallows' 13th this season, the highest number by any team in the Premiership. Truter, however, was not concerned by the number of stalemates they have registered this season.

“We knew what Celtic are capable of and we managed to go toe-to-toe with them in the first half. We had chances, and they had them. When we had a goal, Celtic scored three minutes afterwards and they put us on the back foot, and we had to react.

“They were coming at us at that stage but the intensity was so high and the players couldn’t manage it, and we had to make tactical changes.”

Celtic coach Maduka was also satisfied with the result, though he believes they should have won had they converted some of their chances. “It was a difficult game, especially in the first half because we didn’t create enough chances and we didn’t play more in their half.

“Although we didn’t create enough chances, we had one or two we should have put away, but we did not do that. We will continue working and we will see how it goes in the next matches.”