Wits still have to play Amakhosi twice, along with a trip to Orlando Stadium to take on Orlando Pirates
BIDVEST Wits coach and Pitso Mosimane’s long-time rival Gavin Hunt responded with a loud laugh when asked what he thought of his Mamelodi Sundowns counterpart’s request to do him a favour in the league race.
Mosimane jokingly said that he was tempted to ask Hunt to do him a favour by stopping some of the championship contenders to help Sundowns retain their Premiership crown.
However, Wits are mathematically one of those rivals. The Clever Boys are 12 points behind log leaders Kaizer Chiefs but they have three games in hand.
Wits still have to play Amakhosi twice, along with a trip to Orlando Stadium to take on Orlando Pirates.
These matches are just some of the things that will make the final stretch of the league race exciting.
“What do you want me to say? He has been in the game long enough, he knows,” Hunt said.
“He knows more than I do. He said it tongue-in-cheek, didn’t he? That’s a joke. It’s all good and well. I take it as a joke. We are trying to fight our battles. They are in the CAF and they have done really, really well. It’s a joke, I like it.”
Wits wouldn’t be doing Sundowns any favours should they get positive results in those games, they need the points if they are to fight for the championship or return to continental football after reaching the group stage of the CAF Confederation Cup for the first time in the club’s history.
Hunt said that the CAF run did the club a world of good, toughening them up for the gruelling final stretch.
Took a toll
But it also took a toll on the players while leaving them with plenty to do to catch-up in the league.
Their catch-up programme includes hosting Highlands Park on Wednesday, four days after they beat Baroka FC 1-0 in Pololwane on Saturday.
“We are going to have to go more than two points a game (to win the league race),” Hunt said.
“Right now, we have played 17 games and have 33 points, so we are under two points a game.
“Chiefs are way (ahead). There are only two teams, Chiefs and Sundowns.
“Chiefs right now look like they are going to be making 65 easy. That’s the problem for us. We need to be more than two points a game.
“We are going to have to go like hell, while losing on Wednesday (against Maritzburg United) didn’t help us.
“We’ve got to try and win one or two on the road.”
With teams like Wits and Sundowns playing catch-up, the log isn’t a true reflection of how things look, which is why Hunt isn’t paying it a lot of attention.
“I never talk about the log, winning trophies and anything like that. I’ll never do that,” Hunt said.
“I always say that if you win the next game you win the league. You’ve got to have that mentality.
“We just work on the next game, which is Highlands Park on Wednesday, and we play in the Nedbank Cup at the weekend and we play it’s like that every three days.
“It’s OK. We enjoy the games but it does hit you and it does affect you, especially squad wise with numbers and things like that.
“The players are fighting.”
