Wits coach Hunt offers Bafana counterpart Baxter a shoulder to cry on

Stuart Baxter's scramble for players to represent SA in the African Nations Championship (CHAN) qualifiers is well documented and BidVest Wits coach Gavin Hunt says he feels sorry for his Bafana Bafana counterpart.

Bafana drew 2-2 with Zambia in a CHAN qualifier in East London at the weekend and Baxter’s charges will have a huge mountain to climb when they play the return leg away from home on Saturday.

But the Zambians are the least of Baxter’s worries as he expects to lose as many as eight players in the coming days and he could be forced to field a makeshift side in Ndola.

The CHAN tournament is not played on dates designated by Fifa for international matches and Baxter is pretty much at the mercy of the clubs.

“I feel sorry for Stuart‚ I mean he is struggling‚” Hunt said in his trademark forthright manner.

“It’s just a situation that is crazy isn’t it?

"You have your national team and you cannot get players. I mean that’s crazy. That’s just crazy.”

Baxter had to go down on his knees and beg for players when Bafana played a two-legged CHAN qualifier against Botswana last month‚ even though the games was played during the PSL off-season.

And given that the domestic premiership season is now just days away from kicking off‚ the Briton was always going to be on a hiding to nothing as the two games against Zambia are sandwiched between MTN8 and league games.

Hunt said if he was national team coach‚ he would resort to selecting a team of Under-20 players to play in the troublesome CHAN qualifiers and give those youngsters international football experience.

He said this course of action would be better than trying to win the CHAN matches with a squad that was unlikely to be selected again in the future.

“I think you need to take the Under-20s‚ maybe‚ in my honest opinion.

"You can lose but lose with an eye on the future.

“I would not even look at players that are 27 or 28….. I would go with under-20s. But certainly I would take an Under-20 side and go there.”

Baxter and his South African Football Association employers are well aware that their problems are just beginning and should Bafana manage to get past the Zambians and qualify for the tournament itself‚ they will have an even bigger headache trying to put together a team to represent the country.

The tournament will be played in Kenya between January 11 and February 2‚ right in the middle of the PSL season.

“It’s a very difficult tournament isn’t it?

"I think the intentions are right‚ I think the intentions are good.

"But with football going the way it is going now‚ with all the money‚ you are not going to release for that unless it’s a forced situation‚” Hunt said.