United have tough path
ED AARONS
JOHANNESBURG - His team may be five points clear in the Absa Premiership standings but SuperSport United coach Gavin Hunt is clearly not one to rest on his laurels.
Matsatsantsa a Pitori entertain Kaizer Chiefs tomorrow night at Loftus Versveld as they begin a run of eight matches in 25 days due to the shortened nature of the 2009/10 PSL season. And with the meeting with Chiefs followed by matches against Bloemfontein Celtic, Ajax Cape Town and Mamelodi Sundowns, Hunt is fully aware that the next few weeks could well determine whether they can make it an historic three successive titles.
“It’s definitely the most demanding set of fixtures in my 15 years as a coach,” he told The Citizen.
“We’ve got eight games in the next three or four weeks against some of the best sides in the league so it will be an important period for us but you can never look too far ahead.”
The 3-2 victory over Maritzburg United on Saturday evening was enough to keep breathing space between SuperSport and the chasing pack. Liberian Anthony Laffor scored twice but Hunt’s side conceded two goals in the last 20 minutes to set up a nervous final period.
“We made it look close but we should have killed the game off much earlier,” said Hunt.
“The defence doesn’t worry me at all because we have been working hard on it in training but we must improve because we are starting to give silly goals away. There’s always room for improvement even though we have scored seven goals in our last two matches.”
He added: “When you’re at the top it makes it hard because everyone wants to beat us. When we drop our standards then that gives other teams a chance so that’s why we have to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
Attention will now switch to tomorrow’s showdown with Amakhosi and SuperSport will be eager to repeat their 3-0 victory the last time the two sides met at Loftus.
After all the problems with Arthur Bartman’s jersey in the Soweto derby, Chiefs were relieved to be on the right side of the law as they controversially beat Santos on Friday to move up to fifth on the log. The decision to disallow a perfectly good goal meant Vladimir Vermezovic’s side escaped with the points and kept them in touch with the title race – just.
Vermezovic will know that SuperSport will be a totally different proposition though and with Laffor returning to form, any sort of return from their trip to Pretoria will be gladly received.
“Chiefs are a big team and we respect them a lot but we will do our best to get a good result,” said Laffor.
“We have done well at Loftus beating the likes of Orlando Pirates and AmaZulu there so hopefully that can continue. We now need to win four or five games in succession to win the league.”
There’s no way you would catch Hunt getting ahead of himself and discussing league titles with just over half the season gone but it is clear that he is quietly confident as the climax to the season approaches.
He said: “There’s a long way to go and this match will just be another game on the journey. Chiefs are a dangerous side so we know it won’t be easy but we will be prepared for them.”