“It was a good day for Chiefs when looking at the league table,” reflects Stuart Baxter with a smile after Kaizer Chiefs clinched the Absa Premiership title last night, before stressing: “We still have three games to play. The league is not finished yet.”

Amakhosi won the league title on Wednesday evening by beating Polokwane City 4-1, reaching the unassailable number of 63 points from 27 games.

“The boys played well,” continues the Amakhosi coach, “even though we opened nervously. In the end, we won convincingly. However, I have to compliment as well the opponent’s coach Kosta Papic, he has produced a good squad that plays in a certain way. He has done a good job with players of more meagre talent.”

Baxter is not easily satisfied, despite the league title: “The season is not yet finished and I reminded the squad about that in the dressing room after the match. There are still three big games coming up, which we also want to win. I said to the guys: ‘If you don’t want to play those games, you shouldn’t be at Chiefs’.”

The coaching is eying a record. Mamelodi Sundowns booked 65 points last year, which is at present the most since the league went to 16 sides. Amakhosi have three games to go to better that number of points, having 63 at present.

Talking about Sundowns, missing out last season on the league title still rankles with Baxter. “I am still disappointed that we didn’t win it. We were the best team, but let it slip. But we learnt a couple of things from that experience.”

The coach also commented on media reports in recent months that the “wheels were coming off”, especially after Amakhosi lost against Maritzburg United. “I am not sure where that wheel went,” Baxter said with a wry smile. “We just had a bit of a bad patch, which happens to all teams at some stage during the season. Look, for example, at the English Premiership, even Chelsea had a few setbacks recently.”

“We have been more consistent than last year,” concludes the coach, who stressed not going to have a glass of champagne as yet. “That comes with experience. Our performance was not always good, but we still got a result. I have to compliment the players for this. They have been doing a great job.”