Orlando Pirates head coach Abdeslam Ouaddou praised his side’s character following their first-leg victory over Sekhukhune United, while stressing that the MTN8 semi-final tie is far from over.

The Buccaneers secured a 1-0 victory over Sekhukhune in the semi-final first-leg thanks to a goal from Deon Hotto at the Old Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane

Pirates will take a one-goal advantage into the return leg when they meet at the Orlando Amstel Arena on Saturday, 29 August.

The Buccaneers executed their game plan effectively, pressing Sekhukhune and exploiting weaknesses, but Ouaddou knows there is still another 90 minutes to navigate.

“Definitely, I think we were not surprised, we know this type of games and I think credit has to be given to our boys, they responded very well in terms of discipline, in terms organisation,” Ouaddou told SuperSport after the game.

“Of course, at sometimes we lost the ball early, we gave them the opportunity to punish us but overall, I’m very happy about the team spirit of the boys.

“We came here to win to take this first victory, but I like told you we still have one second half. We’re going to rest the players and maybe in one week we will play the second-leg now we will focus for the league game now.”

He continued, “Yes, you know when you training such a big club, you have to find the balance between entertainment and discipline and I didn’t want to come here and sit to protect our goal. Our target was to come there and make them the pressing.

“To push them to make mistakes or push them to play long and to recover the ball and the target as well if the first line of pressure was passed it was just to be compact mid-block and to wait to them.

“We knew that they have some weaknesses and we did well, we did well to use that weaknesses, but there is a second half.”