Orlando Pirates striker Tshegofatso Mabasa does NOT believe the Betway Premiership title is already gone.

This despite Pirates trailing log leaders Mamelodi Sundowns by 18 points ahead of Sunday’s titanic clash at Orlando Stadium.

Kick-off Esigodini is at 15:30.

The Buccaneers head into the encounter against the champions having played four games lesser (18) than Sundowns (22).

And while the majority of football fans in the country believes Pirates won’t catch, let alone overtake Sundowns, Mabasa holds a different view.

The left-footed marksman said Pirates should not listen to the outside noise but rather focus on winning their remaining 12 league games.

And that mission starts with beating Sundowns who hammered them 4-1 in the first leg of this fixture in Tshwane a few weeks ago.

ORLANDO PIRATES STAR MABASA STILL OPTIMISTIC ABOUT THE LEAGUE TITLE

“The league is not gone. It is far from being gone. I always hear this from people, including yourselves (the media) but I do not believe it is gone, we do not believe it is gone,” Mabasa told reporters on Thursday.

“As a group, we still have faith in it, and like I say, we have to win the remainder of our games, and I know we are capable of doing that as we showed at the beginning of the season.

“So, there will be a lot of pressure, yes, but I know that we are up for the challenge and we are ready,” concluded Mabasa.

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