“We lacked a bit of courage,” reflects Kaizer Chiefs coach Stuart Baxter on the 1-0 win over Ajax Cape Town last night, thanks to Mandla Masango’s goal in the first half. “However, we grinded out a result and that’s a quality too.”

Amakhosi are still on top of the Absa Premiership log, having 50 points from 21 matches.

It wasn’t one of Chiefs’ best performances this season. However, as Baxter stressed: “It was always going to be a difficult game against Ajax. Not only because they are a good side, but also because we came back from an African Champions League clash. The world over, you see clubs slipping up after a Champions League game, look at Manchester City or Bayern Munich.”

“Furthermore, we play the Derby on Saturday, which will always be on the players’ minds. These aspects combined resulted in a bit of a black lash. One can say, that shouldn’t happen, but it does. It’s difficult to explain. However, that’s how it is. So we knew going into this Ajax encounter that it would be difficult.”

“There are no easy games in this league. Look at SuperSport United. Everybody thought it would be an easy win for them against AmaZulu, but see what happened. The same was the case for Mamelodi Sundowns against Bidvest Wits.”

“Of course, we should have been more on the front foot. Once, we got the goal we settled well. However, we defended very deep, which helped Ajax to settle too. Still, we probably had the best chances. I am delighted with the result.”

Baxter was happy with Itumeleng Khune’s performance, his first league clash since returning from injury. “We didn’t want to rush Khune, because we also wanted to be fair to Brilliant Khuzwayo, who had done excellently. However, in recent games, it looked as if he was looking a bit too much over his shoulder, realising that Khune was fit again. It affected his performances. Khune dealt well with the crosses coming into the box and he is also good in organising his defence.”

Meanwhile, Reneilwe Letsholonyane got a knock in the game against Ajax, which resulted in him being substituted. Luckily enough, the midfielder will be fine for the Derby.