Gavin Hunt has admitted his huge satisfaction with the nature of Amakhosi display in their narrow victory over rivals Orlando Pirates on Sunday.
The Amakhosi were relieved to see their worrying streak in the league end thanks to a fantastic sole goal by Samir Nurkovic, who Hunt believes could have bagged a few more on the day.
“We had some good chances. You know we could have scored [more], Samir could have got a hat-trick.” said the Chiefs coach.
“I thought [the result] was well deserved. I thought we had the better chances. We had to give them space to play. We don’t have enough of what they have got – you know what I mean – in terms of quality. So we have got to do what we have got to do, ride it out.”
The former Supersport and Swallows strategist praised his players’ work ethic and promised to use this quality as a foundation going forward into the season.
“I said to the players, just stick to it. Listen to what I’m trying [to say]. Stick with it, we’ll get better. We have got to do what we have to do, and it was a good performance.”
Statistics-wise, the Chiefs were unimpressive; having managed 10 shots in total and two on target inside the 90 minutes, in contrast to Buccaneers’ 12 in total and four on target. But Hunt is well aware that numbers don’t always tell the whole story.
“So all in all the players were fantastic, they dug in. Most important, we denied them a lot of opportunities. I don’t think our goalkeeper made a save, which was good.
“If you don’t have that [work ethic] in football, you won’t win anything. It doesn’t matter how good your players are or who you are, you’ll never win anything.
“That’s something that I will try to instil [in the team], and that takes time. That takes change – big change – mental, everything.
“All in all it was a good result for us, and most important thing, to keep us moving away [from the danger zone].”
The Kaizer Chiefs are currently nestled into ninth position, seven points away from the drop zone and 12 points from CAF Confederation Cup qualification place.
The Amakhosi will look to use the vital Sunday win as a trampoline for their upcoming CAF Champions League clash against Moroccan club Wydad Casablanca next Saturday.