NEDBANK CUP: Jose Riveiro implores Orlando Pirates to give Hungry Lions undivided attention

Pirates continue their quest to retain the Nedbank Cup when they host minnows Hungry Lions from the Motsepe Foundation Championship (MFC) in the Round of 16 at Orlando Stadium on Saturday.

The clash in the historic Soweto venue will kick off at 18:00.

Pirates head into the meeting on the back of a scintillating 3-2 comeback victory over Kaizer Chiefs in the DStv Premiership.

The Sea Robbers’ performance in the Soweto derby ranks among their best for the current campaign.

Riveiro believes if they can maintain that level of play against the Lions, they shouldn’t have problems grinding out a victory.

“Usually, one of the problems in this competition for a team like us are distractions,” Riveiro told the media during the Nedbank Cup press conference in Johannesburg.

“If we want to be the best version of ourselves on Saturday, we need to be focused. That goes without saying.

“And the distractions after the derby are many because people are still talking about that. You guys (media) are still talking about that and it’s normal.”

Pirates’ failure to keep up with Mamelodi Sundowns in the race for the league’s top honours can be mainly attributed to their lack of consistency.

“We need to find ourselves quickly and focus on this match,” Riveiro said.

“The Fifa break is coming up as well, we have players going into national team camp and that also has many factors that can be distractions.

“If you are distracted, you don’t compete at your best level,” he said.

“It’s our (as coaches) responsibility to keep them on the right track, motivated and understanding the responsibility on Saturday.

“We want to be in the next round and make sure that we can continue defending the trophy that we got one year ago.”

The Lions knocked out fellow MFC side JDR Stars by 1-0 in the last 32 while Pirates completed a 6-0 rout of Hollywoodbets Regional League side Crystal Lake of Mpumalanga.