SuperSport United coach Stuart Baxter has called for calm ahead of his side’s Nedbank Cup semi-final tie against Chippa United on Saturday afternoon.
Baxter’s charges were on the end of a 3-0 thrashing at the hands of the same outfit on Wednesday night in an Absa Premiership encounter and the newly-appointed Bafana Bafana mentor says he has had to stop people from getting ahead of themselves as he looks to become the first man to retain the Nedbank Cup title.
“My role is to get these players, who I feel have been fantastic this season and worked really hard, to win something at the end of the season,” he told IOL.
“The other day I also had to stop Stan (Matthews, the club chief executive) talking about giving me a big send-off.
“I want to win things yes, but it can easily sound like you are pompous when you start talking about those kinds of things and mentioning yourself all the time.
“Maybe there will be time to reflect on what I’ve done here, but right now, I think these players deserve something,” he added.
The 63-year-old mentor praised his side for competing on all fronts, while also touching on the drubbing against the Chilli Boys in their most recent tie.
“The amount of work they have put in is incredible – between having to play our domestic games and CAF commitments as well, we have had to manage ourselves and fight mental fatigue.
“It was exactly what we expected from Chippa, and I don’t think Dan coming back made any difference because we had played them before while he was still there.
“Dan is like me, he is never going to compromise the way he wants to play just because they were in danger of being relegated.
“But we had Keagan Ritchie sent off in the 70th minute and they sort of kicked on from there. And before the match, Kingston (Nkhatha) broke down and we had to bring in Fagrie Lakay at the last minute.
“We don’t want to be nonchalant about our CAF games, but the Nedbank Cup is our best chance of getting a trophy,” he concluded.
The two sides face off at the Sisa Dukashe Stadium, with kickoff scheduled for 15:00.
