Baxter void ‘won’t hurt SuperSport’
WE MUST STICK TO THE COACH’S STRUCTURES
Matsatsantsa look for their second Chiefs scalp in a week at Mbombela Stadium tonight.
SuperSport United captain Dean Furman says the absence of head coach Stuart Baxter has not affected the team’s preparations as they gear up to face Kaizer Chiefs in an Absa Premiership fixture at Mbombela Stadium this evening.
Baxter was admitted to hospital on Monday for “emergency medical treatment,” according to a statement released by the club.
“The coach is massive for us, he is a definitely one of the reasons behind the success that we’re showing this season. To have him not on the touchline is something different. But as professionals, we know how the coach wants us to play in the structure he has set,” said Furman.
Matsatsantsa take on Amakhosi for the second time in a week after the Tshwane-based side delivered the knockout blow in a Nedbank Cup quarterfinal last Saturday, winning 5-3 on penalties, with the game locked up at 1-1 after extra time. The 28-year-old Furman told Saturday Citizen that his side are wary of the threat that Steve Komphela’s men can pose.
“We know Chiefs very well, they are a strong side and they can hurt us going forward. We saw what happened in the Nedbank Cup when we slightly turned off in the last 10 minutes (of normal time), we saw that they can hurt us. They have got exciting players going forward, but we know that if we are solid everywhere, we will be giving them very little opportunity to hurt us and we can create a number of chances ourselves.
“There are a number of positives that we took from that game and we hope we can execute a similar performance and be more clinical at home,” said the skipper.
SuperSport are the outsiders in a five-horse title race, with three defeats in a row earlier in the month stalling their progress. They did bounce back, however, with an impressive 1-0 win at Bidvest Wits in midweek.
“We just dropped a bit on the pace in the title race, we had a bit of a disappointment in the last few weeks the defeat to Baroka and obviously to Sundowns (twice), but we have turned it back into a positive movement with a victory over Bidvest Wits (1-0). The performance was outstanding,” added Furman.