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Cape Town - Orlando Pirates coach Eric Tinkler believes the Soweto club is set for a bright future, having recovered from a turbulent start to the 2015/16 campaign.
The Buccaneers started the campaign on a bad note, not helped by the club losing the final of the CAF Confederation Cup.
However, they have dug themselves out of the hole they were in, firmly cementing their place in the top eight and looking to finish even higher than the sixth place they currently occupy.
"You can't dwell much on the past, it's gone, you have to move on," Tinkler said at the club's CSI drive at Thabisang Primary School in Orlando West on Tuesday. "The future is more important and it looks bright for Pirates.
"It's important how you bounce back from disappointments. We have done that. We got ourselves out of, what was a difficult position in the league, sitting towards the bottom half of the table.
"We've steadily moved up, the performances are much better. Hopefully we can even finish higher."
Finishing higher would no doubt include winning the Nedbank Cup. But to do that, they have to beat Mamelodi Sundowns at Lucas Moripe Stadium on Saturday night in the quarter-finals to prolong what has already been a long season.
"We can beat Sundowns," Tinkler said. "They're a beatable team. So is any team in the league and it helps us that we are in good form.
"I have continued to believe in the players which has led us to this run. It's important as the head coach that I continue to have faith in my players because if I show that faith and belief in them they will show that faint and belief in me.
"We built that level of trust between each other. They have understood the highs and the lows that we have faced this season. It has been a very long season for us, you have to remember that we didn't have a break like everybody else.
"To still see them, running, smiling, joking and enjoying each other's company means that the spirit is high and very good. By now you would have thought that they would be tired at looking at each other's face but that's not the case. It has helped that our form has improved."
