Baxter banks on resilience

SuperSport United coach Stuart Baxter says he anticipates a tough encounter against Maritzburg United tonight when the two square off in an Absa Premiership clash at Lucas Moripe Stadium (7.30pm).

“You could ask me about any team in the league and my first answer will probably be ‘it will be a difficult game’,” said Baxter.

“There are no easy games in the league. Kaizer Chiefs against Highlands Park, was that an easy game? No, not at all. On paper it is, but in reality it is not like that. We have Maritzburg who have changed coaches, I saw them against Chiefs and they weren’t that bad,” Baxter said.

Matsatsantsa a Pitori come into this match off the back of a 2-1 aggregate victory over Elgeco Plus in the Caf Confederation Cup preliminary round. They were, however, frustrated by a goalless draw at Free State Stars in their last league outing.

The Team of Choice have now gone four games on the trot without a win, but Baxter expects De Sa to bring his A-game.

“I know Roger de Sa and I know he will be worked up for the game against us,” he said.

The SuperSport coach also did not appear to be surprised by the plight of Orlando Pirates, who are struggling after nine league and cup games without a win and have just named Kjell Jonevret coach.

“The league race is going to be tight. What happened with Orlando Pirates could happen to us. It’s happened (before) to Sundowns, it’s happened to Chiefs. What surprises me is that people are surprised. It is just a question of how you are going to deal with all of that. Some people don’t and they fall away. Some people do and they stick in,” said Baxter (below).

“We have to keep responding to all of the challenges of Caf, we have got to respond if we get disappointment in the league, to come back and show we are resilient. The team that’s most resilient will probably win the league.”