Wits need to stay grounded

Bidvest Wits need to come back to earth from their Telkom Knockout success quickly this evening as they host Ajax Cape Town in a match they badly need to win to start getting their Absa Premiership campaign back on track.

The Clever Boys are currently rock bottom of a league they won last season, a remarkable transformation, though they also started this week’s fixtures only ten points behind leaders Baroka, in an insanely congested table.

Wits have won just two league games this season, and already lost as many as they did in the whole of the 2016/17 campaign.

“I think we have struggled in the whole team, maybe we were (too) excited that we were champions, and now every team is targeting us,” said forward Gabadinho Mhango (above), who returned to play in the TKO final against Celtic on Saturday after serving a sixmatch ban for spitting at AmaZulu’s Michael Morton.

Mhango added some spark to Wits’ attack at Princess Magogo Stadium, but he certainly needs to improve his record – the Malawian’s last league goal for his club came on April 11 in a 3-0 win at home to Golden Arrows.

“For me he wasn’t up to it,” was Wits coach Gavin Hunt’s frank assessment of Mhango’s performance against Celtic.

“You can see he is rusty ... I am being harsh, but he could be so much better ... football is not about ability, it is about desire and attitude. The higher you go, the ability of the players is similar, you have to go the extra mile.”