Pirates travel to the beach resort of Sousse in Tunisia for the second leg of the 2015 CAF Confederations Cup Final against Etoile du Sahel, having drawn 1-1 in the first leg at home on Saturday.
While the North Africa state has had to deal with yet another wave of violence in its capital Tunis, which killed 12 people this week, this cup final – being played 150 km away – remains on the fixture list.
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It is no secret that 30 000 passionate fans will be backing the hosts and while Sousse has had no incident of political instability this week, it was targeted as recent as June when 38 people were killed by the ISIS.
For the business that has takenBucs there they are well aware of the intimidation that will be starring them from the Etoile loyalists in the stands.
“In terms of the kind of atmosphere that we will encounter, I have been there before as a player,” says Tinkler.
“I have experienced it and for me as a player it was always a motivation playing in front of a crowd that wasn’t there to support you. For me it was always a motivation to prove them wrong and I think the players themselves will agree to that.
“When you get into the game and your focus is on the game, believe it not, you will forget about what is happening outside. You don’t hear anything because your focus is on the task at hand. So it [crowd] shouldn’t affect the players.
“The lasers are obviously a problem because it is difficult not to avoid, but that is just the harsh reality of what we are going to encounter there.
“We have made them aware and in fact we were showing them prior to the game at home footage of the game when they [Etoile] played Zamalek at home and we made sure that it was nice and loud for them to experience what type of crowd they will encounter. But for me it should be highly motivational,” says Tinkler.