Loss of Mhango a blow for Wits

BIDVEST Wits will miss livewire forward Gabadinho Mhango for their Premier Soccer League clash against Platinum Stars at Royal Bafokeng Stadium tomorrow.

PSL leaders Wits travel to Rustenburg with a one-point lead over SuperSport United and as the only team still unbeaten after five wins and a draw.

The Clever Boys‚ though‚ have amassed their 16 points in six games‚ compared to all the other sides in the top five’s eight.

Hunt will miss Malawian striker Mhango‚ who has brought a notable spark to Wits’ frontline this season‚ with a hamstring injury.

That is one concern for the Wits coach‚ the other being how yet another break in the fixtures – after the past 10 days’ Fifa International break – will affect his on-form team.

“We all know what happened the last time in our first game back from a three-week break when we played Free State Stars,” Hunt said yesterday.

“We were flat‚ we weren’t as good as we could have been‚ even though we could have won it. And we lost 3-1 eventually‚ which was a bit of an exaggerated scoreline. “So that’s frustrating. We’ll have to see. “We had a good result in Rustenburg last year [Wits won 4-0 in November 2015]. Stars will still be hurting from that result and we know we’ll have to go and give a good account of ourselves.”

Wits last played on November 1‚ when they beat Chippa United 1-0 at Dobsonville Stadium to take the PSL lead.

They lost 3-1 against Free State Stars in the Telkom Knockout at Goble Park on October 22.

That defeat also followed a Fifa break‚ with their pervious result that time having been the club’s stirring 3-0 humbling of Mamelodi Sundowns in the MTN8 final.

Ninth-placed Platinum Stars bounced back from a seven-game league and cup winless streak with their 1-0 PSL win against Lamontville Golden Arrows in Durban in their last fixture on November 2.