Ghana midfielder Edwin Gyimah is expected to be in action for South African giants Orlando Pirates on Saturday when they host Tunisian sideEtoile du Sahel in the first-leg of the final of the CAF Confederation Cup.

Gyimah has been impressive with his work rate at training in recent times, as he attempts to cement his place at Orlando Pirates.

Gyimah was one of the high-profile signings for Pirates this season.

He joined the side having previously played for SuperSport United and Mpumalanga Black Aces.

So far this season, the 24-year-old has made three starts for Bucs in their PSL campaign and their match today will seek to outwit the Tunisians.

Tunisian football clubs have long been overachievers on the continental club stage with a regular parade of clubs from the north African country reaching the final of one of the two annual competitions.

Etoile du Sahel are among those who have been at the forefront of the consistent success, albeit their last final appearance ended in defeat in the 2008 African Confederation Cup.

On Saturday they will compete in the final again after a seven-year hiatus as they face Orlando Pirates of South Africa.

The match is the finale of what has arguably been the strongest field yet for Africa's second tier club competition.

To reach the final, the pair have emerged above the likes of Egyptian giants Al Ahly and Zamalek, as well as the Tunisian pair of Esperance and CS Sfaxien, plus former African champions ASEC Abidjan, Hearts of Oak and Raja Casablanca.

It promises to be a tightly contested affair as the clubs meet for the first time having both finished second in their respective groups but then upset the Egyptian pair in semi-final upsets.

The first leg at the Orlando Stadium will be followed by a return tie in Sousse on Sunday, 29 November.

Pirates are looking for an advantage to take to the game in Tunisia, where the trophy is to be lifted.

Etoile arrived in Johannesburg on a charter plane on Wednesday having completed a training camp at the seaside in preparation for the game.

They had their players up at 06:30 daily, running up and down sand dunes on the beach in a tough physical preparatory program.

Coach Faouzi Benzerti put the players through their paces with training three times daily while other staff coaches carried out in-depth video analysis of the South African club.

Central defender Zied Boughattas has been passed fit after a spell out with injury as is the case with offensive midfielder Hamza Lahmer, who pulled out of Tunisia's two World Cup qualifiers against Mauritania.

Founded 90 years ago, Etoile have won a total of seven continental titles to just one for the South Africans.

Both clubs had their first success in 1995 when Pirates won the old style African Champions Cup and Etoile the now defunct Confederation of African Football Cup.

Etoile Sahel achieved a long-held goal of success in the Champions League with a surprise victory in 2007, beating Al Ahly away from home in Cairo to take the prize. They had been runners-up twice before that in 2004 and 2005.

But in was in the old African Cup Winners' Cup and Confederation of African Football Cup that the side from the coastal city of Sousse made their biggest mark, winning both of the continental competitions twice. They appeared in four Caf Cup finals.

They were winners of the 2006 Africa Confederation Cup, beating Morocco's Royal Armed Forces on the away goal rules.

Two years ago Pirates reached the Champions League final but lost to Al Ahly.