SuperSport United need to deal with the pressure, says Stuart Baxter

SuperSport United were once again on the losing end against Mamelodi Sundowns, on Wednesday night.

The Tshwane-based outfit’s form has dipped of late and they are winless in their last five Premier Soccer League (PSL) encounters. However, Stuart Baxter and his troop’s focus shifts to the Nedbank Cup. Matsatsantsa are scheduled to face off against Kaizer Chiefs on Saturday evening in a crunch encounter at the FNB Stadium.

A worrying factor for SuperSport, has been injuries and fatigue as they contend with a heavily congested campaign. SuperSport are likely to be without attacker Kingston Nkhatha, who was forced off early in the Tshwane Derby with an injury. Nonetheless, coach Baxter has praised his squad’s depth and refuses to accept that fatigue is responsible for their recent slump.  

“One of the things that the team has done quite well, is every time one of the players get a knock, someone else will step up,” Baxter told the media.

“We don’t talk about fatigue and obviously, it’s a factor but for us we focus on playing our games as they come. I don’t want to put bad results on fatigue and travelling to Caf,” Baxter added.

The 63-year-old has also stated that despite SuperSport having many former Amakhosi players within their ranks, he maintains that it won’t be a factor on the night.

“The fact that we have former Kaizer Chiefs players is irrelevant, they are playing for SuperSport United now," Baxter said.

“To be professional means you have to take all the outside pressure and get on the field and still put in your best performance,” Baxter concluded.