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Johannesburg - The Lions may have just three points from the first half of the domestic T20 rugby competition, but coach Geoffrey Toyana is not giving up hope of defending the title just yet.
The Lions finally registered points on the board at the fifth time of asking when they tied with the Warriors on Sunday.
The recent upward trajectory has given Toyana hope of a fightback, beginning against the Dolphins at Kingsmead, in Durban, on Wednesday.
"We're still in it. There are still five games for us to play and I think this competition will start taking shape around game seven or eight," he said.
"We played well against the Titans, but just didn't get over the line. I thought we dominated for 36 overs.
"Then, against the Warriors, I thought we played well to get the first three points of the 20 that we'll probably need to get into the play-off."
The Lions have travelled to Durban with the same squad they used at the weekend, and will come up against a similarly injury-free side.
The only player missing for the Dolphins is English seamer Graham Onions, who is still struggling with a shoulder injury picked up in December.
The Dolphins have taken 11 points from their first four games and, although captain Morne van Wyk is satisfied with the campaign so far, he has identified three areas in which they need to progress.
"We'll take the points that we have so far, but we're also looking for improvement in some areas," said Van Wyk.
"I think how we bat in the middle eight overs is an area that we'd like to play better; death bowling is always going to stay key; and then we'd like to have one of our top three batters getting big scores."
