Mokoena refutes frustration as he looks for positives

Orlando Pirates coach Rhulani Mokoena refused to dwell on the frustration of his side’s wastefulness in front of goal and praised their performance despite a sloppy 1-0 win over Stellenbosch FC in the Telkom Knockout on Saturday.

Pirates had some 25 attempts on target as they overwhelmed their rookie opponents but only secured a late goal through Thembinkosi Lorch to book a place in the quarterfinal after a narrow first round victory.

“I try to live on the positives, so there was no frustration,” Mokoena insisted afterwards.

“I was happy that we kept our offensive schemes,” he said after the victory at the Orlando Stadium.

“We have been creating chances in all the matches we’ve played but now also kept a clean sheet and that’s a positive.

“As much as we created and maintained the chance creation, we still maintained very good defensive stability today and we were very good on rest defence and kept a clean sheet. Those are the positives and the building blocks,” he added.

“The Fifa break affords time to work on our defensive organisation, on keeping possession and not be vulnerable to counter attacks.

“There is also a big positive that we are creating so many chance and somebody soon is going to be on the receiving end of a couple of goals,” Mokoena warned.