Caretaker coach Lehlohonolo Seema believes Bloemfontein Celtic can draw encouragement from their performance against Orlando Pirates in the Nedbank Cup in their fight for topflight survival. Celtic narrowly went down 2-1 to Pirates in the quarter-finals last night, and next face fellow league strugglers Highlands Park in a 'six-pointer' at Dr Molemela Stadium on Tuesday. Phunya Sele Sele, who have been forced to crack on without Belgian mentor Luc Eymael, are 13th on the table with 23 points from as many matches - two points more than Highlands, who have played an extra game.

Seema told SuperSport TV after the loss to Bucs: "What can you say? I think it was a great game, the teams were attacking each other, it was end-to-end stuff. But like I said before the game we knew we would have our chances. We knew Pirates were going to come and attack us and we knew we would have our moments, but we couldn't finish our chances. Just before it went to extra time, we had two chances to finish the game off. Look at the miss of Kabelo Mahlasela, but the young lads are learning.  "I think the guys can be proud of their performance today. If they can take this kind of performance into the league, I think that we can survive. Hard luck today, they put in so much effort but are coming out with nothing. It is a little a bit disappointing but we will soldier on." He added: "On Tuesday we are playing the cup final against Highlands Park. If the guys can put in this kind of performance we can survive the relegation zone."