Polokwane City might have come out on the losing end in their opening match of the new DStv Premiership season on Sunday, but new coach Lehlohonolo Seema said he was proud of the efforts of the newly promoted side.

Polokwane City, who were the National First Division champions last campaign, lost 1-0 to Cape Town City, giving up the only goal of the game in stoppage time at the Athlone Stadium.

“I think we have tasted what it takes, in the top league, to win a game. And I think we, as Polokwane City management, together with the players, can be proud. Yes, we did not get any points, but if this is the fight that we can put up on throughout the season, it will be good for us,” said Seema, who was only appointed lasty week.

“I think there were a lot of positives that we could take from the game. The players carried out our plans very well. We had to give the respect to the opponent who was playing at home and we know the kind of game they play, they will come and bombard us, let's absorb pressure and make sure that we don't concede early. And we did that for the first 45 minutes and then had our own chances in the second half. But in the end, we lost it.”

Seema said they did not have too much time to dwell on the defeat as there is a home game against Stellenbosch on Wednesday to now focus on.

“It’s going to be another test for us. We are learning as fast as we can. But we are proud with the performance the boys. We are not happy. We are not smiling. But we have a lot of positives that we can take from this game.

“Of course, at home, we have to play differently because it's not possible to defend the whole 90 minutes. If we get chances, we must convert them because in the premier league, we will not get as many as we would think possible. So that's why we say ‘let's have that killer instinct’,” Seema added.