Wits up against Jelusic’s resurgent Bloem Celtic in final

Serbian tacticians are formidable opponents due to the way they thoroughly organise their teams, according Bidvest Wits coach Gavin Hunt.

In the Telkom Knockout final on Saturday (6pm), Hunt will be in a tactical battle against Veselin Jelusic of Bloemfontein Celtic.

Celtic have enjoyed a revival under the Serbian this season with the team flying high in the Premiership while also making their first final since winning the TKO in 2012.

Over the years a number of Serbians including Jelusic, Kosta Papic, Vladimir Vermezovic and Milutin “Micho” Sredojevic have had stints with various PSL clubs.

“Their football is structured. Right now our game has been a little bit unstructured, it’s all over the show, that’s if you watch South African football.

“These guys bring that organisational structure to the game,” Hunt said.

“I know Kosta well, he is a good mate of mine. But these guys [Jelusic and Micho], I really don’t know much about them. They seem to be very articulate and detailed in their approach.

“I think they have different approaches. Papic was a different one. Each has their own mentality.”

The university club have struggled in the league, lying at the bottom of the table with nine points from 11 games.

With Celtic having already beaten Wits 1-0 in the league earlier in the season, Hunt said: “There was nothing in that game. We were well on top, but the problem was we didn’t score,” said Hunt.

“And then they got one break at the end, which was offside and they won.”

With the Princess Magogo Stadium having surprisingly received the nod to host the final, he added: “It is what it is. We have to concentrate on the rules and play football. It threw everybody a curveball, didn’t it?

“They are going to have a big crowd. But I can’t be worried about that. We will play them anywhere,” added Hunt.