Coach upbeat over his three ‘new signings’

PHAKAMANI Mahlambi and James Keene will be like new signings for Bidvest Wits this year and add impetus to a side whose form stalled at the end of last year, Clever Boys coach Gavin Hunt says.

Hunt described Wits as already having effectively made “three signings” in the January transfer window, saying the acquisition of Granwald Scott had been augmented by the return of key strikers Mahlambi and Keene.

Hunt described Mahlambi as the future of South African football at the end of last year when the 19-year-old made something of a miracle recovery from a potentially career-ending ligament injury, scoring two goals in two games.

Having missed the first half of the season due to knee surgery‚ Keene will be fit to resume playing when the Premier Soccer League resumes from its six-week break early next month.

“Buhle Mkhwanazi is back from that bad facial injury‚ and ‘Tyson’ [Thulani Hlatshwayo] is back from his hijacking.

“So we can get our back four back again‚ and some competition going there – and that’s what we need,” Hunt said.

“Xola Mlambo is back as well. He was out for about eight games‚ and he was fantastic for us in the beginning.”

Mahlambi had complex surgery after his brother‚ Mthobisi‚ donated part of his hamstring so the teen striker would lose none of his pace.

Big‚ clinical English striker Keene scored eight goals in 14 games after having signed for Wits in the second half of last season.

Their presence up front and Hlatshwayo and Mkhwanazi’s return in defence to bolster a back four, where Hunt had to rely on makeshift combinations, could go a long way towards Wits reestablishing their early season fluency.

After starting with one defeat from their first 12 league and cup matches‚ Wits could not win in their last six games before the break.

Hunt said he planned to make more signings to add to former Ajax Cape Town central midfielder Scott on a free from Slovakian club Slovan Bratislava.