AmaZulu head coach Benni McCarthy was defiant during his final post-match press conference of the year following his sides 2-1 DStv Premiership defeat against Orlando Pirates on Thursday at Orlando Stadium.
Usuthu took the lead through Luvuyo Memela before Kwame Peprah struck twice on either side of half-time to elevate the Buccaneers to the second position on the log, 14 points behind leaders Mamelodi Sundowns.
Meanwhile, last season's runners up, AmaZulu finishes the year in fifth place as teams will now break for the festive season and return in mid-February.
McCarthy hopes the lengthy break will give the AmaZulu owners enough time to lure new players to the club in the Janaury transfer window.
The Bafana Bafana legend did not hold back in saying that he wants and needs better players at his disposal to finish the 2021/22 season off strong.
"I'm desperate for new faces; I'm desperate for refreshments in the team and quality players," McCarthy said after the match.
"You can see, 12 draws is not normal for any team. When you play the way that we play, we play expansive football where you want to dominate the opposition, and we manage to do so, but the final third is where we disappoint ourselves.
"From those 12 draws, I think three or four of them were in cases where we maybe didn't deserve to win, but it's eight too many draws for my liking and for what we want to achieve as a football club.
"We have thrown away too many points this season, and I think we are going to rue our misses come the end of the season.
"The mindset that we have is to succeed and do well, and we've just thrown away too many points, so hopefully, the club can come to the party and play their part in assisting in bringing in some quality players that the team needs.
"We've done exceptionally well last season and this season, but you need to keep everyone on their toes, you need to keep everyone honest, and at the moment, there's a level of complacency, and there's absolutely nothing you can do.
"The players can only give you as much as they can because we've reached the level where we are, and we're going to need assistance in taking us to the next level. When I say assistance, that means a couple of new faces and good quality players."