South Africa coach Stuart Baxter has revealed that his side are not concerned about injured players for their Africa Cup of Nations qualifier today.
The 63-year-old will be without Kamohelo Mokotjo and Hlompho Kekana when they face Nigeria at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in their quest to qualify for Cameroon 2019.
Brondby’s Lebogang Phiri replaced midfielder Mokotjo of FC Twente owing to injury, while Kekana will play no part in the crunch encounter.
But Baxter says that Bafana Bafana have more than enough quality to fill in the gaps.
”In every perfect scenario, you see the less imperfect and if you cry about the less imperfect, you will definitely fail,’’ he told Goal.
”We have got a couple of key players ruled out with injuries after a long season – especially in the midfield, that has been managed well and we really forward to the game.
”Not minding this setback, my players are confident and fully prepared for Nigeria. And today, we will give it our best shot.”
Head coach of the senior national team of South Africa Stuart Baxter will approached today’s game against Nigeria with a safety first approach as he is prepared to play with five defenders at the back.
Baxter recognise how deadly Nigeria can be in attack, and wants to nullify the pace at which the Eagles attack by playing men in front of the defence to stop them from threading balls behind.
That said the coach who loves to play with two defensive midfielders will this time around settle for Kermit Erasmus as the most advanced of his midfielders due to his ability to move from box to box regardless of how deep he plays.
Meanwhile, Andile Jali will be the most important player for Baxter’s team against Nigeria with the KV Oostende defensive midfielder given a role just in front of the defenders, particularly to take out whoever leads the line for Nigeria as the top striker.