Gavin Hunt getting credit for enduring with SuperSport United youngsters

The four-time title winning coach hasn’t always felt this is the case, especially with endless comparisons to rivals Mamelodi Sundowns and Orlando Pirates.

But Arendse this week brought a different perspective.

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"As much as Gavin feels that we haven't been given enough credit from a youth perspective in terms of who's brought through, who've played in teams, who've played in games and how the young players have fared so far. I was pleasantly intrigued that when I've looked at social media platforms, I've seen a bit of credit being given and I've seen how the general public have responded to what Gavin has done in terms of bringing through and not being scared to bring through our younger players," Arendse said.

With SuperSport juggling between the domestic PSL and their CAF commitments, Hunt has had to make up for what he lacks in squad depth by roping in reserve league players in the Confederation Cup.

Arendse believes they’ve more than excelled.

"In all honesty, our younger players have more than stood up to the task. We've used them abundantly on the African continent and it's been a massive learning curve. I just saw a social media post now today saying that eleven of our players who won our DDC league title last year played in our last game against USM in Algeria and we lost the game 2-1 but then more than half their own against a star-studded team like that, a big team like that on the African continent," Arendse added.

Matsatsantsa go into the Nedbank Cup round of 16 clash away to Richards Bay on Saturday afternoon, and according to Arendse, the technical team won’t suddenly discard their development players in search of trophies.

"That's testament to how Gavin has sort of used them and integrated them with the more senior players and so as you put the question, this is another game from the cup competition perspective where positions are up for grabs with these young players and we're keeping faith in them. We don't have the biggest squad around."