Baroka midfielder Gerald Phiri Junior has urged his teammates to pull up their socks following a recent slump in the DStv Premiership.

Bakgaga have failed to register a victory in their past four matches following three defeats and a draw in the other game.

The last time they won was on December 6 when they edged Chippa United 2-1.

Phiri believes they have not upped their game since the beginning of the season after a promising start, which is why they are struggling recently.

“I think teams have upped their games, and we’ve not done that from where we were at the start of the season,” Phiri told Sowetan yesterday.

“I think we need to up our game and get into where it made us get the first points because we were on a high at the beginning of the season.”

The 27-year-old Malawian international added that they would need to change their mindset when they host high flying Swallows FC at Peter Mokaba Stadium tomorrow (5pm), if they are to get back to winning ways.

“Swallows are on top form, so it is going to be a tough game,” he said.

“But we’ve gone four games without a win. I think we need to pull up our socks and go for the win, especially  given that we are playing at home. We have four games at home this month, and we need to collect points.

“The confidence is high up there because we are scoring goals, but we need to defend properly.

“We are not blaming anyone, but as a team, we are not doing enough defensively. So we just need to push and work on our defence.”

With Swallows unbeaten in their 10 matches this season, Phiri insists they are not concerned about playing against them despite enjoying their best form.

“Every game we play, we go for a win. We want to win because we’ve not won in four games.

“We are going for a win because we are also playing at home. We’ve been in this situation before last season, and we have learned from it. The biggest thing we learn is not to panic because results will come your way and won’t go your way at some point. So we need to pick ourselves up.”