Orlando Pirates assistant coach Mandla Ncikazi has reflected on their shock defeat to Marumo Gallants that has dented their hopes of chasing Mamelodi Sundowns in the title race.
Sundowns are currently 18 points ahead of Pirates, who have four games in hand and can close the gap to six points should the Buccaneers win their outstanding fixtures.
However, it could have been a three point deficit ahead of their home game against Sundowns later this month, which further compounded the agony of losing to a relegation-threatened side they beat 8-1 in Orlando for the reverse league fixture.
“That’s football for you, there’s no outcome that’s guaranteed, I’m sure we have lessons learnt from this game, we will do the normal analysis, whether we win or lose,” Ncikazi said in Bloemfontein.
“We will try and improve for the next match; this team is big enough to come back from such a result.”
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On the lessons that come with the surprise defeat to Gallants, who had Moroccan legend Abdeslam Ouaddou as their head coach for his debut, Ncikazi was transparent.
“Our offensive surveillance has to improve, we’re working on it – if it still gives the transitions that we had today, there’s more that needs to be done in that department, we knew there would be big boys for set-plays, but we still conceded,” he added about lessons learnt from the defeat.
“For me it’s not many things, it’s just those few and then we will take the chances that we create and then we will be back on track.”
