Following his side’s Nedbank Cup penalty shootout win over Cape Town City in Pretoria on Tuesday evening, SuperSport United coach Gavin Hunt hailed the character of his troops.
With a number of players missing through injury, particularly in defence, Hunt was forced to put a makeshift XI together.
The hosts scored the opener in the 20th minute through Shandre Campbell, but City responded with an equaliser just before the break with Khanyisa Mayo finding the back of the net.
While it was not a complete performance, with the scores ending 1-1 in regulation time, Hunt saw enough from his players to be optimistic.
‘They all put their hands up’
“Tonight we were playing people out of position. They all put their hands up and that was important. Our passing let us down at times, but it was a workmanlike performance,” said Hunt.
“I don’t think we’ve had a good run in the Nedbank Cup the last few seasons. Cups sometimes cloud seasons. In South Africa we love cup competitions. For me as a coach, I’d rather have a good league position. It gives us another game, but it’s going to be tough because our squad is so depleted.”
Hunt also spoke about the performance of the 18-year-old Campbell.
"Basically, any player needs to be versatile. That was a secret for the club always. We had four players who were very versatile and can play [anywhere].
"We moved him in the second half, certainly in a different position, but he will have to get better playing between the lines, if you want to call it like that. We don't want to play him in one area. He played in different positions, but there are a lot of things that he will work on. But he is young, so we have to give him time.
"We can't really take him out because we don't have anybody else and that's the problem for us. We have a young one in the Diski [Oratilwe Moloisane], but he will take a bit more time.”
Frustrated Tinkler
City coach Eric Tinkler, meanwhile, was left frustrated after his side’s exit in the round of 32.
"SuperSport are always a team that is difficult, especially under coach Gavin Hunt. The brand of football they play is very direct. They play with a lot of aggression and a lot of intensity. Winning the second ball is extremely important," said Tinkler.
"You have to deal with a lot of crosses that are coming into the box. And we made the players aware that we have to deal with that.
"We didn't do it in the first half in particular and the goal came from that. Disappointed because it is something we spoke about, we worked on and we knew and to concede like that."