THE way Lamontville Golden Arrows have been playing lately does not inspire confidence and coach Manqoba Mngqithi is worried that they will miss a chance to defend their MTN8 Cup next season.

Mngqithi is justified in his concern if the performance of Abafana Be'sthende is anything to go by so far this year.

They lost two matches and drew one after the resumption of the Absa Premiership programme on February 2.

Arrows have also been let down by their failure to score goals and against Kaizer Chiefs on Tuesday night, their strikers demonstrated how not to score goals.

They should have beaten Chiefs comprehensively but they ended sharing the spoils with an Amakhosi side that looked ordinary on the night.

"I'm must admit that we have not been doing enough to qualify for the top eight and I'm worried," admitted Mngqithi after their match against Chiefs at Moses Mabhida Stadium.

"We have failed to live up to the expectations and I don't know what to say because we just can't score. It will be very sad for the club and our supporters if we fail to qualify for the top eight and thus miss an opportunity to defend our title. But we are not throwing in the towel and we will fight hard to win our three remaining matches.

"Mathematically, we are still in with a chance," said the amiable Arrows coach.

Mngqithi is also worried at the manner they have been conceding goals and decided to give his young goalkeeper Thulasizwe Khuzwayo the nod ahead of Helton De Rocha when they played Chiefs.

"I don't want to take anything away from Helton. He is a good goalkeeper but I had to put Khuzwayo in because De Rocha is struggling psychologically," he said.

Arrows were 11th on the log before last night's match with 30 points.

Arrows' remaining matches are:

February 16 against Bloemfontein Celtic (Seisa Ramabodu, 7.30pm), February 20 vs Ajax Cape Town (Chatsworth, 3.30pm);

March 6 against Mamelodi Sundowns (Super Stadium, 3.30pm).