Cape Town - Orlando Pirates head coach Eric Tinkler believes their win over University of Pretoria in the Telkom Knockout will be a boost for the squad despite a poor performance.
The Buccaneers have struggled to get going in domestic competitions having been knockout out of the MTN8 at the first hurdle and their lowly 11th position in the Premiership after five games, despite a terrific run to the final of the CAF Confederation Cup.
However, Pirates advanced to the quarter-final stage of the Telkom Knockout with a hard-fought 2-1 win over the struggling AmaTuks and, despite not being happy with the performance overall, Tinkler believes the victory is an important one for the squad.
"I think the result, even though it was a poor performance against AmaTuks, can act as a morale boost ahead of our next fixture because at the back of the players minds' was the issue of results not being good at home," he told KickOff.
"We needed these results to boost confidence and I am 100 per cent sure the performance against Wits will be far better.
"The team has lost confidence, especially at home. We look nervous on the ball and seem to panic, I don't why that has to happen.
"They play far better when we play away than at home. That is something that we need to try to change, try build morale of the players, particularly at home."