Kaizer Chiefs head coach Gavin Hunt on Wednesday praised his players' continuous hard work but highlighted a lack of the necessary quality in his squad after being held to a 1-1 draw by Swallows FC at FNB Stadium.
Alarmingly for Hunt, it is the fourth consecutive league match in which the Soweto giants have dropped points as they have fallen out of the PSL top eight places.
Kagiso Malinga opened the scoring after eight minutes but the home side did well to respond almost immediately through Leonardo Castro.
Chiefs failed to find an all-important second goal and remain rooted to 10th place in the standings with 30 points from 27 games, just five clear of the relegation places.
"I keep saying the same things, poor defending and unbelievable missed opportunities again," Hunt told SuperSport TV.
"Our final ball ... things we need to work on.
"The first goal, we should be dealing with that and it's also come from a long way out.
"Then we get ourselves back in the game and had some really good opportunities around the box. But we were just lacking that final ball, especially in the second-half.
"I'm disappointed because once we got to 1-1 even before they scored we had good domination of the ball.
"After some good areas we got into, we've then got to do better, but we didn't."
Hunt added that he couldn't fault his players.
"The players are giving me a lot everyday," Hunt added.
"They're working very hard but sometimes they can only give you so much and it's down to how good you are.
"So they're working hard and that's all I can ask of them.
"We've got a few out now again. Khama's leg, I've just been told he's suffered another fracture so he'll be out. He has hardly played this season so that's another blow.
"Castro also is suffering with his groin, so there are problems.
"But in times of adversity, we have to stand up and be counted.
"We believe in the players we have available and we're going to have to trust them and set up a plan and have a go. That's all we can do."
Chiefs next welcome Tanzanian side Simba SC in the first-leg of a CAF Champions League quarter-final clash at FNB Stadium on Saturday.
Kick-off is at 21:00.