The Bafana mentor came under much criticism over his team selection as they went on to salvage a point against a weakened Ghana at FNB Stadium on Thursday night.
Plenty was said of what seemed like a defensive approach for a game on home soil, in which a victory could have helped towards a dominant finish in the group.
However, Bafana will now likely only manage second position behind the Black Stars, who face Group C whipping boys Sao Tome and Principe in their final qualifier, if they manage to avoid defeat in Sudan on Sunday.
"I think, if you're talking of seven [defenders], I don't know those seven because we had 11 players who were meant to attack and get us goals," defended Ntseki in his post-match presser on Thursday.
"But when you look at the seven, maybe it's because you were counting when we were in defence, but you were not counting when we were in attack to get the numbers right.
"With our team today, they executed the plan very well. I am personally very happy, in terms of the little time we had to prepare this team, with some players having withdrawn.
"I think I need to remind you that when we won against Sao Tome, we had Bongani Zungu, Kamohelo Mokotjo and Dean Furman [in midfield] and the three of them were not here this time, so we had a new pairing in midfield.
"The new pairing [Andile Jali and Rivaldo Coetzee], fortunately, are from the same team and they did very well. Ben Motshwari coming in gave us so much balance in defence and attack, and I think credit must be given to the players for how they applied themselves."