Orlando Pirates coach Mandla Ncikazi has urged his side to become more ruthless in the final third following their draw with Marumo Gallants FC on Tuesday.

The Buccaneers have now failed to register a win in their first three games of the campaign following their goalless draw with the league newcomers.

Although Ncikazi is disappointed with the result, he believes the Buccaneers will need time to find their rhythm.

“Disappointed with the result,” Ncikazi told SuperSport TV after the game.

“When you look at the match and see how the opponents played, they were playing with a low block. At the beginning of the season you still have to get the rhythm as a team. Trying to fix certain things. But I never thought they would play that low. It suited their game. If we’re going to win matches we need to be more ruthless. We’re not going to create lots of chances when a team plays like that.

“First half we had a few half chances and a chance we did not take. I thought we would take a few from set plays. But the delivery was not in the right place but it’s a work in progress. I’m disappointed but I see the improvement a bit and the confidence in the team and how they circulate and protect the ball. But the result is not what we expected.

“Based on how the opponents were playing, we had to try and pause a bit. We changed the formation that we started with and changed the personnel on top. I thought the changes had the effect but sometimes we lost the ball in areas where we need to be patient. Maybe the wrong pass, the wrong decision, the timing is not right in the final third. Maybe with time we will improve but like I said there is progress. There is confidence which is important to win.

He added: “If we are possession-based we have to create chances based on the possession that we are having. For the amount of possession, we had, we did not create enough. We have to try and create chances.

“The number of final-third entries. Isolate one side to overload. We still have to work on that and maybe our entries. We have a lot of work to do.

“The first game we had problems at the back. I think today we were superb at the back. We just have to fix what is happening in the final third.”