Orlando Pirates have confidently declared that preparations ahead of Saturday's Group B CAF Confederation Cup clash against AC Leopards are on track despite the off-season.
The Soweto giants are scheduled to leave for Congo on Thursday morning, where they will take on Leopards in their first leg group game at the Stade Denis Sassou Nguesso Stadium on Saturday.
"At this stage finding good opposition is not very easy because most of the teams are on break. We requested to play Bidvest Wits on a field that closely matches the conditions in Congo, the field we played on was bumpy and uneven and of course this suits us perfectly," revealed Bucs Assistant coach Teboho Moloi on the club's official website.
This follows their involvement in a practice game against Wits, where the Buccaneers emerged as 2-1 victors, thanks to goals from Thandani Ntshumayelo and Siyabonga Sangweni.
"The fitness is still relatively good, we played in two 45 minute halves, obviously with the objective of giving all the players a run, so we made about six changes in the second half to ensue everyone gets a chance to play."
Moloi further provided an injury update on the Bucs players ahead of this Saturday's clash.
"We have a relatively injury free squad, with the exception of Khethokwakhe Masuku who has a thigh strain and Lucky Lekgwathi who is still recovering from his injuries," stated Moloi.
"Oupa Manyisa got a bit of a knock but we received a report that he has fully recovered.
With regards to the rest of the players we are awaiting a full report from our medical team although we are not expecting any bad news in that regard," concluded the Bucs assistant coach.
