While Sunday evening’s CAF Confederation Cup game against Singida Black Stars is essentially a ‘dead rubber’, Stellenbosch head coach Gavin Hunt says he will use the game to give more players a run ahead of a congested schedule.
Neither team are able to qualify for the knockout stages as they prepare to play this final group game.
It’s been a tough week for the club who had travel logistical problems and spent most of the week returning from Congo, where they lost to Otoho, ending their qualification hopes.
But with a busy schedule domestically set to follow for Hunt’s side, who are set to still play four matches this month after Sunday’s game, the coach is not taking this game lightly.
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Hunt, who replaced Steve Barker after his departure to Simba, has not had many opportunities to train with the team. The team has had extensive travel since the resumption of the campaign.
“For me, it pretty much gives us another look at, for me personally, to look at the players available in our squad,” Hunt said ahead of the game.
“So, you know, obviously give a few more players a run. That’s how I see it. And obviously trying to use it as a good exercise for the upcoming fixtures that are coming, which is going to be certainly much tougher and we’re going to need everybody in our coming fixtures, especially with our league situation.
“So yeah, we look at it like that. We obviously wanted a little bit more riding on the game. We would obviously wanted that. It didn’t happen the last two, three games. So yeah, disappointing from that perspective. But from another perspective, I think we can use it as a good exercise for for for our team.”
The team trained at the DHL Stadium, the venue for Sunday’s game, on Saturday morning. It was another opportunity for new players to be integrated, including former Orlando Pirates captain, Olisah Ndah, who is currently being assessed. His former Pirates teammate, Tshegofatso Mabasa, was also back at training, having missed Stellies last two games, including their Nedbank Cup victory over Kaizer Chiefs.
When I asked if he is concerned about the game’s intensity, Hunt said that the players must respect the game, and there’s a lot to play for for some of them.
“Well, I think, Rob, if you’re a good professional, you’ll treat a game with respect,” the coach replied.
“I always say any game of football you should treat with respect, because the game owes you nothing and we owe everything towards football. So I think we need to treat it with a lot of respect and play properly.
“And obviously there’s a lot of players that need to prove to me that they deserve to play a little bit more on a regular basis. And the games like tomorrow certainly will tell me that. And obviously, there’s a few players they need a little bit more match fitness, who came in late in the window. They haven’t played much.
“So these type of games are good for them as well, hopefully to get us more minutes and mileage in our legs for what’s coming ahead of us, which is a tough, tough program.”
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