Kaizer Chiefs coach Gavin Hunt has defended his players following their goalless draw with Petro de Luanda in the Caf Champions League on Tuesday evening.

The Soweto giants were forced to settle for a point in Angola and missed the opportunity to move up to second place in the Group C standings.

Amakhosi now remain in third place level on five points with second-placed Horoya, with two games left in the group against Wydad Casablanca and Horoya.

‘Look, we knew they were going to be much tougher at home, but we also played in a way where we were a little bit more counter-attack [orientated],’ reacted Hunt.

‘So, we sat back a little bit, dropped the team by 10-15 metres, and it worked. I just thought our final ball and final pass around the box let us down, and that’s just due to quality, so we have to be better there … the draw, I think, is a fair result.

‘Obviously disappointed, but you’ve also got to take a lot of things into consideration. I think the team did well [under the circumstances].

‘I think we’ve been going now for a good few months and you can see we’ve got to get through the weekend, and then we need a break, that’s for sure.

‘You can see there’s a little bit of mental fatigue because of all the playing, up and down and [travelling] around with our squad size.

‘But they gave me their all. The most important thing is they’re fighting, working and doing their best, and that’s the most important thing, you can’t fault the players.’

The 56-year-old will now have two games to secure their place in the quarter-finals when they take on leaders Wydad Casablanca and Horoya in Group C.

‘Well, we’re going to have to win one and draw one. I think that might get us in, but we’ve got Wydad [at home] and Horoya away, which is obviously not going to be easy as well,’ he added.

‘All in all, we’ve had one bad result, even with the preliminary games, which is good. I think we’ve done OK if you look at the results – only one bad game out of so many, including the four preliminary games. We’ve had some good battling performances.’