Orlando Pirates defender Tapelo Xoki says nothing has changed in the team that won the MTN8 and such periods of a losing run do happen during a season.
Pirates look a shadow of a side that won the MTN8 after re-opening their season with back-to-back league defeats against Mamelodi Sundowns and Cape Town City.
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The two back-to-back defeats against Sundowns and City extended the Buccaneers' losing streak in the league to three matches after they also lost the Soweto derby against Kaizer Chiefs prior to the MTN8 final win over AmaZulu.
Xoki says it's a pity they lost their first two games from the FIFA World Cup break but the team's performance has not dropped.
"Nothing much has changed, it's just that we've analyzed the games and we know where we went wrong, sometimes football doesn't have a comments column," Xoki told the media in a press conference.
"How we lost the previous game is still something that, as a football person you understand, but when you watch it again, you're still like, "Aargh, we were not supposed to lose that game".
"But we did. And we understand football that sometimes it's like that. You can play your best football and still lose. So it's a matter of us just keeping positive and try to get over this period that we're in," he said.
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The former Usuthu skipper also explained that they did talk about such periods happening in pre-season but it's how they bounce back which counts and believes if they can turn things around, they have the quality to go on a run.
"You get one of these along the way in the season, we did have a chat during pre-season that we may encounter times like these, so we just have to pull together, stay focused and stay positive," he went on.
"Because we know if we stay positive and turn things around we can go on a run, so we just have to keep working hard and keep positive," he added.
Pirates dropped down to eighth on the standings after their two consecutive losses and will have an opportunity to bounce back in their first home match of the season against Golden Arrows on Saturday.
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