A bumper five days of exciting football action is lined up for Orlando Pirates' Under-19s, who will jett off to Cape Town to take part in the highly regarded Under-19 Metropolitan Premier Cup.

The newly-assembled Bucs Under-19s are currently putting the last touches on their preparations regarding the tournament, which commences at the end of the month.

Professor Augusto Palacios told Orlandopiratesfc.com that his lads will have to represent the club at this tournament accordingly, given the reputation and pedigree of the event.

He said this afternoon that the club received the invitation from the organisers of the event with great satisfaction and he hopes that the level of the competition will serve as a great experience for the new players who have graduated to the Under-19 side.

The tournament, which was formerly known as the Bay Hill Cup, has usually been graced by formidable development sides such as rivals Kaizer Chiefs, Ajax Cape Town, SuperSport-Tottenham Hotspur and defending champions Mamelodi Sundowns.

“This is an exciting opportunity for us to look at our players' performance in a big tournament like the Metropolitan Cup. We basically want to have a look at how our players respond to such tournaments when there is pressure and when the intensity is high,” Palacios said.

Meanwhile, Palacios said that the objective of Pirates’ participation in this tourney will mainly be to spot certain aspects in the players' game that need improvement.

“We are very serious when it comes to our development teams. Our main objective shall always be to develop players and the result will never be in question for us. To expose our players to such an environment is our main focus and if the title comes it is okay, but it will never be our main objective. What we need is to see our players getting this type of experience, increasing their fighting spirit and acquiring knowledge, discipline and character -- that is all. Our track record shows that we are indeed getting it right as far as turning players into great footballers is concerned,” he stated.

According to the tournament website (http://www.premiercup-bayhill.co.za), Orlando Pirates' Under-19s have been drawn in Group H along with Harmony Academy, Riverside Rangers and Salt River Blackpool.