Orlando Pirates coach Josef Zinnbauer insists, once again, his team’s focus is on improving for next season and that they ‘don’t speak about the title’.

The Sea Robbers have been outstanding since his arrival as they won seven and drew one of their first eight league games under Zinnbauer, which propelled them up to third just six points behind Kaizer Chiefs leading up to last weekend’s Soweto derby.

Zinnbauer’s charges knew that a victory over their rivals would well and truly put them in the title mix, although no one from the club was willing to admit it.

However, it wasn’t meant to be for Pirates as Amakhosi ran out 1-0 winners to extend their lead to nine points over Pirates and seven ahead of Sundowns having played a game more than the Brazilians.

Speaking after the game, Zinnbauer admitted that he was disappointed with the result but reiterated that their focus is on next season.

‘We know, we are not happy, the supporters are not happy that we lost the derby, but you get the feeling from them that we had a good game,’ Zinnbauer told the media.

‘We came from 11th place, we were 21 points behind Kaizer Chiefs, and now we are nine – but the season is not finished, although we don’t speak about the title, I think Sundowns and other teams have a chance against Kaizer Chiefs.

‘But we, we have to focus for next season – we have a lot of work [to do], we saw a team from Kaizer Chiefs with a lot of experience. I’m not a magician, I can’t [snap my fingers] and we win 1-0 against Kaizer Chiefs. We did our best, compliments to my team,’ he concluded.