Hunt’s priority is to get new striker to acclimatise

SuperSport United head coach Gavin Hunt’s priority is to get his new Senegalese striker to acclimatise and have him accustomed to the pace of South African football.

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Mamour Niang is an ideal focal point for playmakers as he embodies all the physical attributes of a traditional No.9 striker.

But having had some game time against Swallows and Cape Town City. where Matsatsantsa A Pitori drew and won 2-0 respectively, Hunt says there is still a lot of ground work to be done on the 24-year-old.

“He is a good player but he has to understand that in South Africa the players run faster than the ball, where in Europe, the ball moves faster than the players. That means he has to work a little harder,” says Hunt.

The four-time league-winning coach went on to detail his reason behind bringing in another striker when they already have the established Thamsanqa Gabuza and the club’s all-time leading goal scorer, Bradley Grobler.

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Gabuza will turn 36 years old in July while Grobler celebrated his 35th birthday last month.

“You can’t have a team that is stagnating. We need to add some youth in the team and in the strike force. Bradley Grobler and Thamsanqa Gabuza have done unbelievably well but you can’t rely on them every week.

“You can’t let the team get old together and we need to make sure that we have one eye on the future. We will try to use Bradley and Gabuza where we can,” Hunt said.

Niang was a second half substitute in The Spartans’ win against City, playing wide for most of his time on the pitch while he allowed Gamphani Lungu to occupy the central role. However, Hunt says that is not the profile of his new recruit.

“That was not the plan,” the SuperSport mentor explained.