While there may be no murmurings of discontent yet‚ they will surely start to grow if Pirates lose this final.
And all of that plays into the hands of Baroka‚ who will want to raise those levels of anxiety in Pirates by making sure they don’t concede an early goal.
2. Well rested
Baroka will be playing their first game since their Telkom Knockout semifinal against Bidvest Wits on November 25‚ a break of two weeks for the players to refresh both physically and mentally.
By contrast Pirates had that draining Soweto Derby semifinal against Chiefs‚ followed that up with a Caf Champions League first round game against Light Stars‚ a league game against Maritzburg United and then a trip to the Seychelles for the return leg against Stars.
Although Sredojevic did some serious mixing and matching of his players‚ using the full depth of his squad‚ they still would have been hugely disruptive in terms of trying to prepare for the Telkom Knockout final.
In contrast Baroka have had only one thing on their mind and all the time in the world to prepare for it.