Bidvest Wits coach Gavin Hunt believes the league title is Kaizer Chiefs’ to lose despite having played only 12 games.

Amakhosi were recently crowned Q Innovation victors for the first part of the Absa Premiership season, after they opened up a 10-point lead at the top of the league.

With the league just three games away from the halfway mark, Hunt admits it will be difficult to close the gap.

‘Chiefs have had‚ I mean I don’t want to talk about how they got there‚ but they’ve got a hell of a lead now. It’s for them to lose it now‚’ said Hunt.

‘It’s a big lead. It doesn’t matter [that they’ve played only 12 games]‚ it’s a lead. The other teams got to win three or four matches in a row to catch them.

‘Chiefs will have to lose three or four matches … they’ve only lost one. As I said‚ there’s been a lot of talk about how they got there but they’ve done this.’

The Clever Boys sit seventh on the log with 16 points, a distant 15 points behind Chiefs, but have played four fewer games than the Soweto giants due to their continental competition commitments.

Hunt also believes the Glamour Boys not playing in the Caf competitions will also be a huge factor.

‘Look‚ it’s huge‚ it’s huge. It’s OK if you could get a flight to there and get out like you play in the Champions League in Europe where you fly for an hour or two.

‘But [in Africa] you’ve got three flights to Mali. That’s the problem. To get back and then you play on a Wednesday.

‘So you get back on Tuesday at five in the morning and you’ve been travelling since Monday morning. And you’ve got to get another flight on Tuesday morning to go to Durban to play on Wednesday night. So that’s the problem.

‘It’s only because of the time of the travelling. It’s not about the games‚ it’s about getting there and getting back,’ he concluded.