Shaun Bartlett will be working his way through some niggles this week keeping in mind that he would like to bag a unique hat trick of goals against Orlando Pirates, which he could get right should he manage to find the back of the net against The Buccaneers at the ABSA Stadium on the weekend.

Bartlett in his first outing ever in a Soweto derby was amongst the scorers as Chiefs defeated Pirates 2-0 in a Vodacom Challenge Play off match back in July 2006 in Rustenburg. Bartlett then famously popped up in injury time when the teams met for the final time on the 6th December last year at the FNB Stadium, prior to it going under the constructors hammer to score an equalizer for Chiefs in a game that they looked set to lose.

That was before the former Bafana Bafana hit man headed home Siyabonga Nkosi’s corner in the 94th minute of the match, he then missed the return league game last season and did not find a goal when Chiefs were defeated by Pirates in this years Vodacom Challenge Play off match. He is now though thinking about this weekend and hoping he can get goal number three against Pirates, his first priority will be to get his fitness right.

Hat trick ambitions

A goal on the weekend would give Bartlett currently Chiefs leading marksmen this season his fifth goal in all competition, but the player who recently celebrated his 33rd birthday is fighting to be in shape for the game thins weekend as he says.

“I was away since Friday as I had a bereavement in the family and only began training with the guys late on monday. So I think that I need a few more days in the gym and on the field to ensure that I feel physically ready for this game, if you feel good when you go out onto the field the chances are you going to get goals”.

Motivation

While Pirates might have lost last week to SuperSport United in a league game last week they did manage to avenge that loss with a victory over United in the Moqhaka Cup, a four team friendly tournament that Pirates and SuperSport were involved in over the weekend which was played in the Free State.

Bartlett believes that winning any silver ware whether even though it may be in a friendly tournament, could still act as a boost for a team as he added, “it should not really concern us that they loss last week. What we should take note of is that they won a trophy on the weekend, and winning can always help lift a teams morale and give them momentum for their next couple of games. They on the ascendancy and we need to bare that in mind”.