Baroka may be staring relegation in the face but it seems their confidence is still intact, with their striker Richard Mbulu sounding very optimistic that they will beat Orlando Pirates when the two sides meet at Peter Mokaba Stadium tonight (7.30pm).

Speaking to Sowetan yesterday, Mbulu asserted Pirates pose no threat at all. The Bakgaga marksman emphasised they see no need to panic amid their mediocre form that has seen them remain rooted at the bottom of the log in the past few months.

"Pirates are not dangerous. We're the ones who're dangerous because we're desperate for points...we're playing for our lives now. We are also a home team, so we're positive we'll win tomorrow [tonight]. The [relegation] battle will go down to the wire because the point gap is not big between the bottom teams, so we are fighting until the end,'' said Mbulu.

"The talk among us as Baroka players is that we mustn't panic. We put ourselves in this situation and we'll get ourselves out of it without panicking. There's no need to panic. This [failing to win games] is normal in football... it's a phase, it will come to an end soon enough."

Baroka's main undoing has been their inaptitude to score goals, boasting a mere 14 league goals from 24 outings. This makes them the second lowest-scoring team in the division this season behind Swallows, who are a goal behind them with a game in hand.

Mbulu doesn't think it's only strikers who must be held responsible for this poor goal-scoring record. "We play as a team, so the blame mustn't only go to strikers. Football is a team sport at the end of the day.

"Yes, as a striker I know I should score goals but every player must also score goals because that's the only way to win games. As a striker I am not feeling any pressure because football is a team sport,'' stated Mbulu, who has scored only twice from 19 Premiership games this season.