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Cape Town - Bongani Khumalo believes Bidvest Wits have the upper hand due to their home ground advantage in their opening league encounter against Kaizer Chiefs.
The Clever Boys lost both league encounters against Steve Komphela's charges last season, but the former Tottenham Hotspur centre-back believes tonight's fixture at the Bidvest Stadium will be different - citing Gavin Hunt's pre-season preparations in addition to having home ground advantage.
"Everyone is feeling very positive; we have had a good pre-season. It has been tough, and I just think that everyone would like the games to start happening because the games are our reward for all our hard work," he told the club's website.
Khumalo also spoke about kicking the season off with a league encounter, as opposed to the traditional manner of competing in the MTN8 Cup.
"I think it is better starting with an Absa Premiership match because in the MTN8 it's do or die. The league game is obviously one of many competitive games which we would like to challenge for and get the 3 points," he explained.
"It will definitely benefit us to have one competitive game under our belts before the cup. We would like to get a positive start to the season and it is always good to collect as many points as possible.
"With the season starting it does not really matter who you play against first. It's a fixture that needs to be played and it's a fixture where points need to be taken. Playing against Kaizer Chiefs makes it a higher profile game so to speak, and we are definitely looking forward to the match.
"We are really excited that our first game of the season is at home, and the advantage we have is that we know our pitch, we know it very well," he concluded.
