Marumo Gallants caretaker coach Raymond Mdaka has opened up about the role Dylan Kerr is playing behind the scenes as he's still waiting for his work permit.

Gallants may be still rooted to the bottom of the DStv Premiership but their fortunes have slightly changed since Kerr was named the new coach, replacing Dan Malesela late in January. It's in the CAF Confederation Cup (Confed) where Bahlabane Ba Ntwa have been more impressive.

All in all, Gallants, who welcome Algerian side USM Alger in their fourth Confed Cup Group A match at Dobsonville today at 3pm, have won four of the seven games they've played since Kerr's appointment with two defeats and one draw across all competitions. Kerr will continue to watch from the stands today as he hasn't secured his work permit.

USM beat Gallants 2-0 in Algeria last Sunday to go top of the pool with seven points, one ahead of the South Africans, after the same number of outings.

"Coach Kerr has not really changed a lot because we have a very short space of time. We still have the same players and we still have the same approach but the arrival of coach Kerr has kind of changed our mentality. Now we have that mentality that we must fight for each other.

"He's having a good influence and his presence has been helpful. He is always stressing the importance of striking a balance between playing good football and actually winning games... he is also demanding that the team score goals,'' Mdaka said. 

Meanwhile, the side's skipper Lehlohonolo Nonyane sounded optimistic they'll beat USM, drawing confidence from last week's meeting in Algeria. "We are encouraged by the way we played in Algeria. They [USM] never dominated the game... we held our own.

"They just scored two goals from set-pieces [via Abderrahmane Meziane and Zineddine Belaïd in the 39th and 89th minutes], so now that we are at home I think we will be able to put in a performance that'll give us three points,'' Nonyane stated.