SuperSport United coach Gavin Hunt is set to target the shaky defensive line of Kaizer Chiefs when he comes up against his former club at FNB Stadium on Saturday evening.
However, Hunt, whose side became the second team this season to win three matches on the spin, has warned his players it will not be accepted if one of them show slackness after a string of good results recently because they won’t play.
On Friday, Hunt’s usual set plays were on show as SuperSport beat Maritzburg 2-1 at Harry Gwala Stadium.
Both goals came via set plays, with two of his defenders – Thatayaone Dithlokwe and Onismor Bhasera getting on the end of crosses, catching the home side’s ball watching.
This is the game of Hunt that has been the hallmark for many years to see him win league titles at SuperSport [three in his first stint] with Morgan Gould and Bongani Khumalo being the beneficiaries.
At Wits, in winning his fourth, Thulani Hlatshwalo and Buhle Mkhwanazi were also adding goals from set plays when the forward lines were not getting joy.
With Chiefs having been showing some brittleness in defence, especially with Njabulo Ngcobo and Zitha Kwinika as a pair under struggling coach Arthur Zwane, Hunt will look to take advantage of that.
But Hunt said if his young side are putting the foot off the accelerator after the past three good results then he will be forced to make changes, it doesn’t matter the stature of the player.
“With a coach like me, we won’t have those problems. If I see any slackness in my team, they won’t play. Simple as that,” Hunt said in short.
Hunt, who was appointed by Chiefs in September 2020 and fired in May last year as he struggled to get results despite the enormous excitement amongst Chiefs fans, added: “We got Chiefs this week, another away game. We have played more away games than any team in the league I think. But anyway it’s fine because we have the whole week to prepare.”
In the game against Maritzburg, Hunt, after star striker Bradley Grobler looked to have picked a knock, did not hesitate to take him off before the second started.
Grobler loves playing against Chiefs, having scored 10 goals against them. Grobler did score twice in two league matches against Chiefs in the 2020-21 season, while last term did not due to injury ravaged campaign.
Interestingly, the last time SuperSport played against Chiefs at FNB Stadium, they won, with Thami Gabuza scoring the winner in April.
It was the first game in charge for Andre Arendse as the caretaker coach after the departure of Kaitano Tembo.
After that loss, Chiefs did not wait long too as they fired Stuart Baxter a few days later. He was replaced by Zwane and Dillion Sheppard respectively on a caretaker basis.
