Cape Town - Cape Town City boss John Comitis believes coach Benni McCarthy can turn things around after some poor form, ahead of Wednesday's Absa Premiership clash with Free State Stars at Athlone Stadium.
Since losing the MTN8 final on penalties to SuperSport United, City have endured a mini-slump by losing three matches in a row in the league to Bloemfontein Celtic, Chippa United and Baroka.
Nonetheless, a victory over Ea Lla Koto could see the Citizens move back into the top three should other results go their way. As such, Comitis takes the view that McCarthy still has everything under control and is hopeful of collecting three points against Stars.
"It's far too early to be pushing panic buttons or say the wheels are falling off for Benni. It's not even on the radar. Right now we have one game against Free State Stars - win that and we will be second on the log," Comitis told the TimesLive website.
"The way that I have to look at it is that come Thursday I'll be looking back and‚ with no Lebogang Manyama and no Aubrey Ngoma‚ and with a young coach‚ we'll be second on the log and unfortunately did not win in the MTN8 final."
Meanwhile, for the visitors, coach Luc Eymael is encouraged by a run of three wins in their last five outings, and believes working together as a collective has been key to the good form.
Speaking to the media, Eymael said: "I have a very good mentality in my team - the guys have a good behaviour on and off the field, and during training, which is the reason the team is improving so well."
Stars are currently seventh in the league standings and a win could see them close on the top four positions in the division.
Kick off is at 19:30.