Jose Riveiro says Orlando Pirates will use the pain of their defeat to SuperSport United by defeating Stellenbosch to end the year on a high.
The Buccaneers went down 3-1 to Matsatsantsa in their last DStv Premiership fixture.
Fortune Makaringe had put Bucs ahead at the Peter Mokaba Stadium last weekend after just five minutes. But a brace from Shandre Campbell followed by a Bradley Grobler strike ensured a comprehensive win for Gavin Hunt’s side.
It was a first loss for the club from their past seven league games, with the result leaving Pirates in fourth place on the standings with 25 points from 15 games.
Stellies are one place and two points worse off in fifth with 23 points.
Riveiro explained in the Sowetan: “It’s painful and that’s a good thing that it’s painful.
“It’s painful for all of us that we were winning a lot of games recently and it [losing against SuperSport] is not helping us because we are a winning team. We have to win games.
“It’s not in our minds that it’s normal to lose every six games — we want to win every game.
“It was not possible for different reasons.”
The head coach added: “Professional football players have to perform and sometimes make mistakes. We all make mistakes in our professions.
“We are not superheroes, we don’t do everything perfectly. It was a mistake, but football is a game of mistakes.”