Cheering when your teammate takes your spot is the hardest kind of loyal.

Losing a place to someone on your own side splits you down the middle. Part of you wants the team to go well and part of you wants to be proved necessary, and those two wishes pull against each other every time they play. Being genuinely glad for them is not surrendering your spot. It is being able to want both things without poisoning either.

Say something true and specific to them this week. Then put your effort into the part of your game that actually lost you the place, rather than into hoping they struggle. Both are in your hands and neither costs you anything.