Lehlohonolo Seema makes bold claim after Orlando Pirates defeat

The under-pressure mentor was speaking after his side suffered another setback in the Betway Premiership, going down 1-0 to Orlando Pirates at Toyota Stadium last night.

Seema’s task has been complicated by the turbulence off the pitch, after Siwelele CEO Stan Matthews and assistant coach Andre Arendse were both shown the door, but Seema insists his side are edging closer to a breakthrough.

"I think we can sum up with two words – today I can see the team is heading in the right direction. I don't know, maybe after all the games that we've played, today I think we showed character, we were fighting," said Seema.

"But what makes me happy is that we were more structured against a very difficult team, and if we can play like this, come Sunday we are turning the corner – that I can say."

Siwelele haven’t won a match since their season opener against Golden Arrows, but Seema insisted the signs of improvement were evident against The Buccaneers. 

"With the quality [Pirates] have, for us to keep them at bay for more than 80 minutes, it's a plus for us, but you see a team that has been losing, so when we defended for 80 minutes against a team like Orlando Pirates, it felt like a win and we wanted that point," he added.

"And then we started dropping and defending too deep, and that invited problems. But a work in progress, there's a lot of positives, and I'm just saying I'm happy for the team's performance.

"I'm also very thankful to the supporters we have, it hasn't been easy with a string of losses like this, but the kind of support they are giving to us, we can only do better.

"Come Sunday, I'm telling you, Siwelele supporters must come in numbers because they will taste the second victory at slaughter house."