Wits to play Chiefs at university home ground

Nedbank Cup defending champions Wits will play their round-of-16 match against Kaizer Chiefs at their 5000-seater home ground on the university campus next month.

The Premier Soccer League yesterday said dates and venues for the last 16 of the cup competition would be confirmed on Friday, but Wits coach Roger de Sa said the match will be played at the club's home ground.

The two teams are scheduled to meet on April 6 in a league match at the Mbombela stadium in Nelspruit and De Sa said the Clever Boys will travel to the Lowveld to honour their agreement with the local municipality there. The league encounter is Wits's home game.

Milpark Stadium

PSL teams have had to schedule some of their home games at World Cup stadiums this season, with Chiefs and Free State Stars making an appearance at the Peter Mokaba stadium. Mamelodi Sundowns and Supersport United have also taken their Pretoria derby to the Mbombela stadium this season.

"We agreed to use the Mbombela stadium for some of our home games even before the season started and we plan to honour that against Chiefs next month. But the cup match will be played at our home stadium [Milpark]," said De Sa.

Wits had problems with their home-ground advantage at the start of the season, playing their league opener at Ellis Park because their university ground did not meet the PSL standards. Their last-32 win in the Nedbank Cup against Santos was played there at the weekend, with about 400 spectators coming to the venue.

It is highly likely that the league will double up on security for the cup game against Chiefs. Wits did host Chiefs at home last season.

Meanwhile, De Sa said the Clever Boys were not worried about the unavailability of their new-found star Bhongolethu Jayiya. The 21-year-old player is cup-tied after playing in the same competition in the Wits Vodacom league (third tier) team at the start of the tournament.

"We did well without him for about eight months before we promoted him to the first team and I think we will still manage. Chiefs have more pressure to win than we do, but we also need to defend our title. It's easier to win it than it is to defend it," said De Sa.

De Sa said the youth development in the team was starting to bear fruit and could help the team finish in the Top 8 in May. Wits are sixth in the PSL table, with six games still to be played. And De Sa wants to win all of them - including beating Chiefs next month.