Kaizer Chiefs coach Gavin Hunt defended his side's CAF Champions League showing thus far after their goalless draw with Petro de Luanda.
Chiefs played to a stalemate and picked only a point in their fourth fixture in the Champions League group stages, leaving them with an uphill battle to try and reach the quarterfinal stage.
Reacting to the performance and result, Hunt was pleased with the tactical display but bemoaned a lack of quality in the final third, while he refused to fault the players' effort.
"Look we knew they were going to be much tougher at home, but we also played in a way where we were a little bit more counter-attack [orientated]," reacted Hunt.
Scroll through the gallery above to see more from last night's fixture in Launda
"So, we sat back a little bit, dropped the team by 10-15 meters, and it worked. I just thought our final ball and final pass around the box let us down, and that's just due to quality so we have to be better there... The draw I think is a fair result.
"Obviously disappointed, but you've also got to take a lot of things into consideration. I think the team did well [under the circumstances].
"I think we've been going now for a good few months and you can see we've got to get through the weekend, and then we need a break, that's for sure.
"You can see there's a little bit of mental fatigue because of all the playing, up and down and [travelling] around with our squad size.
"But they gave me their all. The most important thing is they're fighting, working and doing their best, and that's the most important thing, you can't fault the players."
With two games remaining against run-away group leaders Wydad, who have already confirmed their progression to the next round, and Horoya, the 56-year-old tactician discussed the permutations while also defending their good run in the competition.
"Well, we're going to have to win one and draw one. I think that might get us in, but we've got Wydad [at home] and Horoya away, which is obviously not going to be easy as well," he added.
"All in all, we've had one bad result, even with the preliminary games, which is good. I think we've done okay if you look at the results – only one bad game out of so many, including the four preliminary games. We've had some good battling performances."