Swallows FC captain Lebohang Mokoena has reflected on his side’s DStv Premiership performance for the first round so far.
The Birds’ skipper says the team has been trying to work hard, but the luck was not in their side in the first round of the 2021/2022 campaign.
Mokoena insisted that the players have improved, and they play a quality football, but the results have not been forthcoming.
Swallows have only registered two wins after they played 17 games this season so far, as they have drawn seven and lost eight, however, Mokoena still has a hope that they will turn things around.
“I think a lot of many downs for us as Swallows, I think we didn’t start the season off well like we did the previous season,” he said.
“And there has just been an up-hill since then, and we try to get the good results. But things are not going our way, and even much we put in the effort and everybody’s working hard to get the results. But everything is not pulling through.
“But we are just hoping that maybe with the beginning of the last 14 or 15 games, we can turn around, I think we just need a consistency in our performance in terms of winning matches and a mentality of winning and sometimes not about winning with playing good football.
“But I think it’s time we need to graft now we need soldiers, is that time of the season where we cannot afford to drop any points now.
“I think there’s the science, there’s good science, if you look at our stats a lot as improved in terms of shots taken, in terms of shot on target, attempts, at least getting a goal there and there.
“But yeah, we are just lacking that bit of luck, that is just failing from us, sometimes like the Cape Town City game we had in our hand, we just lost it in the last 10, last 12 minutes. So, we also have to work on our critical phases, when to know how to close the game off. And it’s going to be tough in the second round.”
Ahead of the Golden Arrows match scheduled for Wednesday at Dobsonville Stadium, the 35-year-old says they are prepared for and hopes to clinch their third win this season so far.
“But I believe that we will bounce back, we just need to win one match, get the second one, just get two in a row and things will change. But all in all, everybody is putting in a good shift,” he said.
“The performance has been good, and I’m sure people are loving what they see. But the only thing is just the results, that’s just lacking.
“It’s very, very key, I think it also sends a strong message in a sense of how are you going to bounce back or how would you be when you come back for the remainder of the season.
“It’s just one game, so I think we just have to start taking one game at each time. It’s not easy playing Arrows. They’re very good team and they are of course up there on the log, so they are a good team, so we just have to work hard and just make sure this time around, we take the three points.”
