Orlando Pirates caretaker coach Rulani Mokwena believes the international break comes at a good time for his side as it will allow them to put time in on the training pitch.
Mokwena may be looking ahead to the break, but first Pirates will face Golden Arrows at the Orlando Stadium on Wednesday evening. They’ll be looking to end their five-match winless run across all competitions and bounce back from their devastating elimination from the Caf Champions League by Zambian side Green Eagles last weekend.
Pirates have also scored only one goal in the run of games since Mokwena took over, and the young coach is looking for training time to turn their season around.
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‘Of course confidence is a consequence of results. Wins breed confidence. They have been in short supply at the moment and at the same time goals haven’t been coming,’ Mokwena told the media.
‘We have to take marginal gains. The marginal gain against AmaZulu was a clean sheet. The marginal gain against Green Eagles is we managed to put one ball in the back of the net from the many chances we created.
‘We can do better, we know that we can do better. It is just about finding victory.
‘We also have to get back to work to find our balance and stability in our game forms. At least the Fifa break comes and allows us to put in some work because we’ve got a very good technical team. At this moment we believe we just need a little bit time on the pitch to stabilise things and to give our players confidence.
‘It’s going to sound like excuses if I come here and say that we haven’t had training sessions, we haven’t had time to put together the team. It’s going to sound like excuses and the Buccaneers are not people of excuses,’ he continued.
‘We aren’t people who like to look at the negatives, instead we look at the positives, the marginal gains we have made and we try to move forward. That’s the outlook I have always had in life. I am a very positive person. I try to look at the positive in all negative situations.
‘We just continue to soldier on and train this muscle of perseverance, face this challenge of adversity and make sure we come back stronger,’ he concluded.
Pirates will host Arrows in a PSL match at the mecca of South African football, Orlando Stadium, on Wednesday.