Orlando Pirates head coach Jose Riveiro has revealed that he believes his charges are psychologically ready for the clash against Royal AM on Tuesday evening and the congested fixture list in August.

Pirates host Royal AM at the Orlando Stadium in the DStv Premiership 2 days after they lost 1-0 to Stellenbosch FC in the opening round of the DStv Premiership while Royal AM played out to a 0-0 draw against AmaZulu.

While the Buccaneers' faithful were rather disappointed with the 1-0 defeat to the Stellies, Riveiro views the clash against Thwihli Thwahla as an opportunity to make amends and show that they were just unfortunate in the Cape Winelands.

"We are lucky that we have to play on Tuesday again at home, this will give us an opportunity to rectify our mistakes and prove that it was just an accident to lose," Riveiro said.

With the CAF Champions League also on the horizon for Pirates, the Sea Robbers will play a total of eight games this month and Riveiro is adamant they are well equipped for a congested fixture programme ahead of them.

"Psychologically I think we are ready or I want to think that we are ready, we have 36 players in the squad to try and mitigate the fact that we have to play eight games in August with long trips and long waits in the airports and all of these things that we are going to find playing on the continent," Riveiro added.

Meanwhile, Orlando Pirates defender Tapelo Xoki is also optimistic the Sea Robbers will have a positive result against Royal AM on Tuesday night.

"There is no time to feel sorry for ourselves, we just have to pick ourselves up and make sure we are ready for the game on Tuesday, the games are coming in thick and fast so we need to stay positive as we also need the three points as soon as possible," said Xoki.

Kick-off on Tuesday night is expected to be 19:30.