Marumo Gallants are riding on the crest of a wave with four successive wins in all competitions in their last four matches and will be motivated to advance to the quarterfinals of the Nedbank Cup at the expense of Orlando Pirates.

Holders Gallants host Pirates in a last-16 clash at Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane fresh from their win over Stellenbosch while the Soweto giants' wounds are open after they lost their marquee fixture in the derby against Kaizer Chiefs at the weekend.

Gallants assistant coach Raymond Mdaka said their recent form will count for nothing against Pirates.

“It’s going to be one of the most difficult games we have ever played,” said Mdaka.

The last time Gallants lost a match was against Pirates in the DStv Premiership in December last year. They have since gone on a winning spree against Chippa United away, and Baroka and Stellenbosch at home before dispatching amateurs Santos in the last-32 of the Nedbank Cup.

“We have been having a a better run. We have an objective to build a team and improve our game and the players on a daily basis.

“It’s going to be very tough but with how we do things, how we play, I think we will be equal to the task.”

Gallants have eased their relegation concerns with three successive league wins that steered them 10 points clear of danger, and Mdaka said that will allow the players to play freely.

“We had to make sure we move away from the bottom of the table knowing there are some cup games in between, but the priority for us was to make sure we play with less pressure.

“When you move away from the relegation zone you don’t have a lot of pressure like when you are bottom of the log, but pressure will remain.

“We want to maintain the attitude of winning regardless of it being a league or cup game. We don’t say we are going to approach it differently because this is a cup game.

“We’ll always approach our games in relation to our main objective of trying to play much better and do better than the previous game.”

“There are a number of players who were there when the team won the trophy last season and the coach has won it [in 2019], but the confidence and mentality of winning is something that we try to inculcate to say we always want to win and it would be great to progress in the cup," Mdaka said.

“We are playing a team of the calibre of Pirates but we are ready for the match.”