Golden Arrows head coach Mabhuti Khenyeza admits they need to cut out their "stupid" mistakes in a bid to arrest a three-match long streak in the DStv Premiership at Chippa United on Saturday.
Kick-off is at 5:45pm CAT (SA, GMT+2)
Abafana Bes'thende made an impressive start to the season, winning six of their opening nine games to emerge as potential title challengers to Mamelodi Sundowns.
But a 1-0 loss to Cape Town City in Hammarsdale on 26 November made it three defeats on the spin for Khenyeza's side, who are now 10 points adrift of the league summit in fifth place.
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Khenyeza believes their disappointing run of results in November stems from mistakes rather than poor performances, which means Arrows have had to chase games.
"You can see we are not losing the games because we can't perform but one mistake the game is off and we need to chase again," he said.
"It's not like a team that doesn't perform, that doesn't play or doesn't create. But now it's only that we're conceding stupid goals and suddenly everything changes, we need to chase the game. Players get desperate and then we change our approach to the game."
The Chilli Boys have also struggled for results of late, with a 2-0 reverse to Sekhukhune United in Polokwane on Wednesday extending their winless sequence to five outings.
Only two of those were defeats and Morgan Mammila's side are just two points outside the top eight in 13th position, while they're tied with AmaZulu (12th) and TS Galaxy (11th) on 15 points.
Mammila acknowledged that Babina Noko took full advantage of Zuko Mdunyelwa's 49th-minute dismissal, but felt that Chippa were leggy in the second half due to having not played for 24 days.
"I think Sekhukhune deserved to win after we were one man down and it was difficult to chase," he said.
"Congratulations [to] them and congratulations to Chippa United for giving the effort. We'll have to forget about this game as quick as possible, we've got an important game at home.
"They [Sekhukhune] were lucky they've been playing, they had some minutes. You could see their players they've got some minutes. Us I think it's two to three weeks without touching a ball. You could see that we struggled a bit but we'll bounce back."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Chippa United
Stanley Nwabali: Chippa were indebted to the 27-year-old Nigerian goalkeeper for restricting Sekhukhune to just the two goals after he pulled off a string of saves as the hosts laid siege to their goal. Nwabali has been guilty of a few errors but he's performed well overall for the Chilli Boys, keeping six clean sheets in 12 appearances this term.
Golden Arrows
Brandon Theron: The 30-year-old right-back endured a difficult evening against the Citizens, who raided down the left flank on numerous occasions. Theron was initially credited with an own-goal after he failed to clear his lines when Khanyisa Mayo played Jaedin Rhodes into space on the left and the ball appeared to go in off the defender, although it was subsequently given to the City striker, who got a touch while on the ground.