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Johannesburg - Wits and SuperSport are both looking to get back to winning ways when they face each other in Saturday’s opening Telkom Knockout quarterfinal clash.
The two teams were hungry for victory after they suffered losses in their midweek Premiership encounters, with Wits losing 0-2 at home to Polokwane City, and SuperSport going down to Maritzburg 1-4.
“I always feel that it’s very important to play after a loss, as quickly as possible. Even after a win, you want to play,” Hunt said ahead of Saturday’s showdown.
“I’ve always said that I don’t think we play enough football in South Africa. It’s very important to play every two or three days. If the rest of the world can do it, why can’t we?
“I’m certainly enjoying playing three games a week.”
A long-time critic of the Premier Soccer League’s scheduling of fixtures, Hunt had been granted his wish of playing more than once a week of late.
It did not go according to plan against the Limpopo side on Wednesday, however, as the Students suffered their fifth defeat of the season in all competitions.
Semi-final losers in the top-eight competition two months ago, Hunt would be looking to replicate the kind of form that saw Wits - the team he joined after leaving SuperSport last year - reach the final of the Nedbank Cup at the end of last season.
Looking at Saturday’s opponent, Hunt welcomed his former team’s turnaround since Gordon Igesund replaced Cavin Johnson at the beginning of September.
Hunt had enjoyed a string of solid results since he departed from the Pretoria club for Wits, leaving Johnson to fill the void.
The two sides had already met this season, where Hunt and his troops clinched a 1-0 Premiership win away from home.
Hunt had not lost to SuperSport in three meetings since taking charge at Wits. He was cautious though, anticipating a new-look Matsatsantsa under their new coach.
“When coaches stay the same, you don’t have to watch them much because they won’t change [tactics] too much.
“But when coaches change, that’s when you have to watch them. SuperSport have done very well over the last couple of games by changing a few things.
“I believe that you can’t play the same way every week. You need to have a little bit of a tweak and variation for situations .”
Igesund, meanwhile, said he needed no motivation for Saturday’s game.
“We don’t need to be told to win a trophy,” the former Bafana Bafana boss said.
“Every coach wants to win the championship, every coach wants to try and win a cup of any sort. It’s the pressure that we put on ourselves.
“There’s only one bite at the cherry, both teams want this very badly.”
Wits would be without Sameehg Doutie for Saturday’s encounter. The nippy winger was currently on loan from SuperSport and not allowed to play against his parent club, unless both teams agreed to a monetary fee.
Hunt had ruled him out and, other than Wits' long-term injured pair of Calvin Kadi and Papy Faty, both teams had a clean bill of health.
