Head Coach, Stuart Baxter was full of praise for his players as they registered a 3-0 victory against BidVest Wits at the Mbombela Stadium on Saturday, 23 February 2013 to proceed to the last 16 of the Nedbank Cup.

The Briton surprised many when he started with the three central defenders, Morgan Gould, Tefu Mashamaite and Eric Mathoho. Mathoho returned after missing the outing against Black Leopards last Wednesday.

“We decided to play three centre backs with ‘Tower’ (Eric Mathoho) returning after missing the game on Wednesday. Morgan is still in early stages of recovery and we thought after getting a run against Leopards, let’s give him another run against Wits.

“I was also taking a chance by playing three centre backs as we only had two and half sessions to prepare and during the game it took a bit of time before the players got used to the system. The players wanted to stick to their positions. I think they adapted well afterwards with the full backs pushing higher up quite well.

“We also did not give Wits a chance to create opportunities. We should have scored more than three goals but I am satisfied with the 3-0 victory that takes us to the next round of the competition.

Industrious midfielder, Reneilwe Letsholonyane and Bernard Parker started the game on the bench; “I felt that we need to start rotating the players to keep them fresh. I was pleased with the performances of Lucky Baloyi and Matthew (Rusike). Mandla (Masango) came in and did very well for us as well.

Baxter speaking to kaizerchiefs.com left a special praise for the ‘Man of the Match’ Siphiwe Tshabalala, “He is a very important player for us and proved once again his worth in the team against Wits. We are trying to get him into positions where he can be a threat to an opposition.

I would like to congratulate the players for the job well done. I think they were very motivated coming into this game after we were knocked out in the first round of the previous tournaments (MTN8 and Telkom Knockout).

“We will need to shift our focus very quickly to the league game against the same opponents at the FNB Stadium on Saturday, 02 March 2013,” added Baxter.

Kaizer Chiefs play BidVest Wits in the ABSA Premiership league on Saturday, 2 March 2013 - kick-off is at 18:00.