Pirates have come out victorious in their previous three meetings with Chiefs and will undoubtedly come into the tie with a psychological advantage.
The Buccaneers have also enjoyed some more consistency than their arch rivals this season, having gone unbeaten since their Absa Premiership loss to Bloemfontein Celtic back in August.
However, Lorch is adamant they cannot afford to rest on their laurels as Amakhosi are likely to be extra motivated to end their winless run, while they have been warned against getting sucked in by the occasion that sees the country come to a near-standstill on Derby day.
“It’s going to be a different ball game, we expect they will come at us and fight because they won’t want to lose to us again,” Lorch tells snl24.com/kickoff.
“They will want to claim their pride back, but we will be ready for a tough game. We will just play our normal game – and like the coach said, it’s not about playing the occasion.”
This will also be the first time Pirates take on Chiefs since the departure of previous coach Giovanni Solinas, and the Bucs top scorer has noted some changes under Ernst Middendorp.
“We’re definitely expecting a different approach because we were watching their game against Sundowns, and they came out with a different style of play,” he adds.
“We also noted that the players are happy under the new coach, so we just have to be prepared because he is a good coach – you can see there’s structure in the team now.”