Gavin Hunt has had the last laugh as Bidvest Wits' qualification to the group stages of the CAF Confederation Cup blew apart the myth that they do not take African competitions seriously.

A perception has been created in the past few seasons that Wits are not interested in continental competitions. On a number of occasions, they suffered early exits in the preliminary rounds of the Champions League or Confed Cup.

Now after numerous attempts since taking over in 2012, Hunt has led the university side to a group phase qualification.

"We have always competed in the CAF and played to the best of our ability. We lost on penalty shoot-outs and away goals, so it hasn't been for a lack of trying," Hunt told Sowetan.

"The people who say we don't take CAF competitions serious don't really know football, so I'll leave it at that."

Wits thumped UD Songo from Mozambique 6-0 in the preliminary round second leg on Sunday on the back of four goals from playmaker Gift Motupa to an overall 8-1 win on aggregate.

The four-time Absa Premiership winning coach hailed his team's clinical performance. "For a club of our size this is another step in the right direction. We will wait for the draw and see where we have to go," he said.

"Every competition we play in we want to do well, no matter what it is. It's a tough project but we will do our best."

As with their domestic league triumph three seasons ago, Wits best thrive when they are written off.

With qualification now secure, they turn their attention to the Premiership where they are third with 15 points and a handful of games in hand.

"We have a backlog of league games, so we'll see. The change in the CAF calendar should help a bit with the schedule."

Wits will next take on SuperSport United at the Bidvest Stadium on Friday.