Johannesburg - AmaZulu FC began life without Benni McCarthy with a Caf Champions League dead rubber against Horoya at the General Lansana Conté stadium in Guinea.
Although already out of the competition Usuthu seemed to be a team invigorated over the course of 90 minutes, creating excellent chances in their efforts to win the match.
Usuthu had a fairly decent maiden campaign in the Champions League but a calamitous breakdown at home against ES Setif, and thereafter Raja Casablanca proved to be vital a blow to their knockout round aspirations.
Assistant coach Vasili Manousakis, who was alongside Goalkeeper coach Moeneeb Josephs on the bench, mentioned his displeasure at the result but was beaming with pride as his players showed character and made the most of the match with a good showing.
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Manousakis said: “Obviously we are not happy with the result because we came here to win the game, and we create probably the best chance to win the game and we couldn't.
"We had a lot of challenges coming into this game. We didn't train because our bus broke down and that disrupted our rhythm, but for my team to put up a performance like that in the second half is unbelievable so I'm very proud of my team.
The former Cape Town City assistant coach also revealed his side's struggles playing in an unfamiliar 'smaller pitch'
"The pitch was very small, we are not used to playing in a small pitch so it affected how we build up and how we like to play the game," he said.
The Durban-based side resumes league action in midweek and have an opportunity to get back to a sense of normality and hopefully use the arrival of new coach Brandon Truter as an opportunity to boost the team spirit within the club whilst chasing a top four finish.
Usuthu currently are just outside the top eight in ninth position in the league, six points away from third-placed Kaizer Chiefs, even though the latter have three games in hand.
Manousakis revealed that the club understands the reality of the situation they find themselves in and will give it their all for the remaining games of the season.
"We can't dwell on this for long because we have a league match on Wednesday. Finishing in a Champions League position is gonna be very difficult now but we're gonna give it our all and hopefully we can achieve a top four spot.”