Kickoff (Cape Town)
25 November 2008
Bidvest Wits midfielder Marawaan Bantam says his team has recovered from the 4-1 drubbing by Kaizer Chiefs on Saturday evening and are ready to tackle Ajax Cape Town tomorrow (Wednesday).
"We are professionals and we have a job to do. We have fully recovered from that loss and yes, it was an embarrassing loss, but we have put it behind us.
"Even our coach, Roger De Sa was not happy about it and he gave us a tongue-lashing after the match. He was very disappointed about the result," says Bantam.
To rub salt into the Clever Boys' wounds, De Sa was also given his marching orders on Saturday and will not sit on the bench when Wits visit Ajax Cape Town.
The Urban Warriors have been blowing hot and cold this season, but unlike their opponents tomorrow, won their Absa Premiership match on the weekend.
"The sooner we forget about the weekend, the better. It is true that there are lessons learnt after every loss and we have learnt ours. We cannot afford another slip-up," Bantam adds.
"I cannot wait to return to Cape Town; it is like going back home for me. I played a lot of matches and scored special goals for Santos at Athlone Stadium, so for me the match will be like a home game."
The Clever Boys will have to do without defender, Ashraf Hendricks, who picked up his third yellow card on Saturday, however, De Sa has enough replacements and could call on Byron Hendricks to fill the gap.
Wits are placed one position higher than Ajax on the log, in third, on 17 points to the Cape side's 16.
And it is fitting that there is little between the teams on the Absa Premiership log, as games between Ajax and Wits over the years have tended to be very evenly matched.
In 16 league meetings since 1999/2000, both sides have won five matches against one another, with six encounters ending in stalemates. They have also scored exactly the same number of goals as one another, 14.
Last term, the Urban Warriors did the 'double' over the Clever Boys, winning 5-2 at home in the first half of the campaign and then 1-0 away in the return game.
In fact, Wits have not beaten Ajax in a competitive match since the first half of the 2003/04 season.
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