Wits hope to keep up momentum
Clever Boys, high from victory over Chiefs, now face determined Sundowns
PREMIERSHIP title holders Bidvest Wits have barely had enough time to catch their breath after beating Kaizer Chiefs at the weekend and must now turn their attention to Mamelodi Sundowns. Wits host Sundowns in a mouthwatering league match at the Bidvest Stadium in Johannesburg tonight just days after dumping Chiefs out of the Telkom TKO.
Coach Gavin Hunt will need his charges to quickly switch focus from cup mode to the league after beating Chiefs 1-0 at the selfsame venue to reach the final of the cup competition on Saturday.
Midfielder Xolani Mlambo‚ who won man of the match against Chiefs‚ said he hoped they would retain their fighting spirit against the Brazilians and work very hard to stop coach Pitso Mosimane’s star-studded side.
“We have to have the same approach‚ the same fighting spirit that we had [against Chiefs] – hopefully Lady Luck will be on our side again‚” he said.
“It’s never easy playing against teams like Mamelodi Sundowns‚ Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates.
“You always have to fight‚ grind and do whatever it takes to get the win.
“The competition will always be tough. So going into that game is as important as any other game.”
Wits have had a horror start to the season in the league and the champions remain second from the bottom in the premiership standings.
They have won just two matches from nine outings and Hunt will be desperate to get all the points against a Sundowns side that is more than capable of turning on the charm.
Hunt has to assess his captain‚ Thulani Hlatshwayo‚ and the coach said the defender‚ who has been out with a bruised toe‚ remains doubtful for the Sundowns encounter. “I don’t know with injuries any more‚” Hunt said.
“In my day, we never had doctors and physios – we’ve got too many guys. I don’t know.
“Hopefully, he [Hlatshwayo] can get back for the Sundowns game but look‚ he hasn’t trained now for two weeks and that’s another problem.”
Sundowns are seventh on the standings and will be desperate to put together a consistent run of results after beating Pirates (3-1) in their last league game but also going down to Chiefs (2-1) and AmaZulu (2-1) in their previous results.
Meanwhile, Lamontville Golden Arrows coach Clinton Larsen is full of praise for Orlando Pirates‚ who his side meet for the second time inside a month in a PSL encounter at the Orlando Stadium tonight.
“I’ve been very impressed with what I’ve seen of them‚ compared to last season when their build-ups were so laboured‚” Larsen said.
“This time around there is a lot of energy in the team‚ a lot of interchanging of positions‚ players look a lot more comfortable and seem to be enjoying what they are doing.”
Arrows have already been on the losing side to Pirates‚ beaten by a single goal at home when they played on October 25 in the first round of the Telkom Knockout.
But Arrows do have a point advantage over the Buccaneers in the PSL standings with both clubs already one-third through their season.
“I do think they’ve been a bit goal shy‚ like a lot of teams are‚” Larsen said of the Pirates attack‚ which has netted only eight times in 10 league games.
Arrows play their first game in three weeks as they seek to try and go top of the standings‚ sitting second two points behind Baroka FC.
“After the last game‚ we gave the guys two or three days off just to recover‚ recharge the batteries‚ and then we’ve had lots of hours on the training field.
“Like I’ve said before‚ with the young players we’ve got‚ there are always areas to improve and [reasons to] spend a lot of hours on the practice pitch.”