Mpumalanga Black Aces coach Muhsin Ertugral feels his players may have underestimated University of Pretoria in their 1-0 defeat at Loftus Stadium on Sunday.

Tuks, in 15th place and with just two victories before Sunday's clash, beat Aces 1-0 thanks to an Atusaye Nyondo strike.

It was only Aces' third defeat of the season and probably a wake- up call for the players, who must have been caught up in all the talk about the side possibly winning the league title.

It will get tougher in the second half of the season, and Ertugral will have to ensure his players always keep their feet on the ground, or they could slip down the table.

"In the end you think about that [complacency]. I told the boys, 'don't win the game before the game'. We had three clear chances in the first 15 minutes. We look like we are not concentrating in front of goal. Collins [Mbesuma] missed an open goal. We have to blame ourselves. We were not good enough today and there are no excuses.

"In the end, we need to ask ourselves if we can play with the big guns. We will see in the end. There is still 14 games to go.

"But we need to stop talking about this thing of winning the league. We are still behind the big guns. I mean, who are we to talk about the title?"

Ertugral feels he may need to go into the market this week to get a striker who will help ease the burden upfront for the league's top scorer Mbesuma, who has scored 10 of the Aces' 22 goals this season.

"That's the area we are looking at. That's important. We are eyeing [players] and hopefully we can get one or two."

Currently three points behind leaders Mamelodi Sundowns, Aces will be at home to Chippa United in their next match on Saturday (8.15pm).