Having played 23 matches winning 11, drawing 4 and losing 8, Orlando Pirates find themselves two points adrift of second place SuperSport United and the CAF Champions League spot for now.

Pirates are back in action on Saturday afternoon against Richards Bay FC at the King Zwelithini Stadium looking to get the much needed three points to set the tone going into the last six games of the league.

Although they have some tricky fixtures lined up en route the closure of the 2022/23 PSL campaign, Pirates legend Tebogo Moloi has insisted the team needs to finish in the top 2 to book their spot in the CAF Champions League next season.

"If you can't make Champions League football then you have to make in the CAF Confederations Cup and without putting any pressure on the players and the coach, it's a given thing that as an Orlando Pirates player you have to understand that at the end of the season you have to qualify for the CAF Champions League if not the CAF Confederations Cup," Moloi said.

The former Gaziantepspor player believes the status of playing in the CAF Champions League every season for a Pirates player needs to be engraved in the players DNA for the team to understand that it's not something that needs to be negotiated.

The Buccaneers will then play Chippa United after the Richards Bay encounter in the league with Dondol Stars also in the mix for the coveted Nedbank Cup quarterfinals fixture and Moloi expects Jose Riviero's side to successfully compete and come victorious in all competitions.

Heading into the resumption of the league over the weekend, Pirates will welcome back captain Innocent Maela, Monnapule Saleng and Miguel Timm who were all selected for international duty for Bafana Bafana and Moloi has expressed how important it is for the trio to influence the rest of the team heading into the last league encounters.

"With Saleng,Maela and Timm having tasted how it is playing in Africa, they should go back to the team and inspire the rest of the players to want to do more and make them understand how continental football feels like, it's high time Pirates reclaim back the glory days and start the process of dethroning Sundowns in the league, there's no excuse as to why that cannot be achieved," Moloi added.

Meanwhile Pirates defender Olisa Ndah who has been having challenges with injuries this season has also stressed on the importance of Pirates being a team that should win trophies and play continental football.

"Now that we are at the last hurdle, the goal is to finish second in the league and go all the way in the Nedbank cup because Orlando Pirates is a big club and as a player of this big club, you’re expected to win trophies, we have won the MTN 8 last year, now the goal is clinch the remaining trophy and qualify for CAF," Ndah said.

Kick-off at the King Zwelithini Stadium on Saturday afternoon against Richards Bay FC is at 15:00.