Man-of-the-match Nazeer Allie said Maritzburg United still have to 'be positive' despite their survival hopes taking another knock with a 1-0 defeat to Orlando Pirates at Harry Gwala Stadium on Wednesday evening.
READ: Pirates edge valiant Maritzburg
Maritzburg, who are six points adrift of safety, have only three games left in which to salvage their Absa Premiership status. Allie made some crucial interceptions and defended stoutly throughout, but was powerless to avoid defeat.
"We came out here to win the game, but we unfortunately we lost, so we just have to keep on going," the former Ajax Cape Town defender told Supersport TV.
"Obviously Pirates is a good team and we lacked concentration when they played through us and then they scored.
"It's a difficult situation that we're in. But we have to stay positive. We still have nine points to collect and we'll keep on going.
"We have to stay positive. We still have to play for the team and the city. The gameplan worked and obviously when they scored we had to open up more to get a goal to equalise. But unfortunately, we couldn't equalise.
"Obviously we're disappointed. We have to go back, we have a game in two/three days time so we can't keep our heads down, we have to look up and keep focusing on the next game.
"The belief is still there. You can see in the performance. We were just unlucky with the one goal that Pirates scored but we still have to be positive."