SuperSport United coach Gavin Hunt admits he is resigned to losing more of his star players at the end of the current season.
Matsatsantsa lost Patrick Maswanganyi to Orlando Pirates, Thapelo Maseko to Mamelodi Sundowns and Jamie Webber to Sekhukhune United last term.
This time around, the likes of Jayden Adams, Ime Okon, Shandre Campbell and Kegan Johannes have all been linked with moves away from the club.
Having steered his side to fifth place on the DStv Premiership standings with one game of their season to play, Hunt explained that it is tough for his side to realistically compete with the top clubs as they work with a limited budget.
He explained his predicament in the Citizen: “The way we finished last year, it’s always difficult to improve when you’re losing players. So we built a brand new team again this year.
“And some players are obviously going to go again so it’s going to be tough. If we keep all our players, we win the league don’t we? But it’s difficult financially because we have to balance our books and work on a budget.
“That’s our club, we produce the youth. 14 players are from the under 20s and that’s what we have to do. Again you will go through ups and downs and inconsistency in performances from young players but they will be better next season.”