Ben Youssef is perhaps easing the pressure on his players by talking down the significance of the fixture, but for any Chiefs fan, or, for that matter, Pirates fan, this is the big one.
“It’s only three points,” Ben Youssef said. “If we beat Orlando Pirates, will they give us the title or six points? It won’t change anything major.”
Strictly true, but perhaps not what fans of AmaKhosi want to hear.
“For us, it’s just a league game. Yes, it’s the derby, there will be one team in Soweto, us or them. But it’s still a league game. Our target has been clear from the first day of the season: we will take each game as it comes.
“We don’t have to change our targets by winning one game and start discussing winning the league. Or lose one game and start destroying everything.”
Chiefs have been on an excellent run of late, and were hoping for six wins in a row before the midweek 0-0 draw at Polokwane City.
They will want to get back on the winning trail to cement third place in the league and secure CAF Confederation Cup football next season. They are currently seven points ahead of fourth-placed AmaZulu with a game in hand.
A win over league leaders Pirates and they will cut the gap between the clubs to nine points, with a game in hand. Even so, a six-point deficit to make up with what would be four games remaining feels a bridge too far.
“The team has performed very well in the last six games, with five wins and one draw. On the day of the derby, the team that makes the fewest mistakes and is hungrier will win the game,” Ben Youssef said, before suggesting not much should be read into their 3-0 loss to Pirates in February.
“At that moment we were a bit unlucky, we had a lot of injuries. It is difficult as a coach when you have a lot of injuries. You have to make a lot of changes and you don’t have the consistency.
“In the last five or six games we have had the same squad and the same team. When the consistency is there, the performances are there and the results are there.
“We were also unlucky in the first round of the league in that we missed out on a lot of points. We put in good performances but we were unlucky and didn’t score.”
Ben Youssef did offer some words of comfort to the AmaKhosi supporters.
“We don’t have fans, we have family,” he said. “This is a moment to give them back some joy and hope. We hope they enjoy the game, the performance and the result.
“The most important thing is to give back to the fans, make them proud and continue to fight to finish in the best position we can this season.”
