Kaizer Chiefs coach Stuart Baxter is upbeat ahead of Chiefs return to competitive action as they prepare to face TS Galaxy in their last 32 encounter in the Nedbank Cup on Saturday at 18h00 at the FNB Stadium.

As Chiefs launch a bid for their 14^th Nedbank Cup title and  Stuart Baxter aims for his fourth career title, the Chiefs coach talks www.kaizerchiefs.com through the preparations for the game – as well as that Cup Final in 2019 – and looks at which players will be returning to action for this vital cup clash.

Return to action:

The lads have worked very hard since coming back from their break and their camp to Stellenbosch. I enjoyed watching some mobile attacking play during this preparation time. We have tweaked things  a little bit, there is also a desire by the team to defend as a unit, which in modern football is a necessity. Looking good on the training field does not always transfer into results, but if the lads play the way they have been training and preparing then TS Galaxy will have to play very, very well if they are to beat us.

Cup football element of surprise:

In this sort of game you have to have the right sort of mental approach, because there is no second chances. You cannot take your foot off the accelerator, buckle your seatbelt and hit the gas. In these games the coaches will have to have their ‘what if’ scenarios. If you go a goal down, what’s the bench looking like? Everybody enjoys the cut and thrust of the cup; the Nedbank Cup is the one competition that resembles the FA Cup. There is the element of giant killing, everyone is aware of that and if your mental approach is wrong you could be in trouble. We don’t have that because TS Galaxy are a top flight team who have been improving under their new coach, so therefore we know we will have a difficult game and we will approach it that way

No talk of revenge

I do not think we are the huge favourites. We have to make ourselves the favourites. When we had the Nedbank Cup launch, I was asked a hundred times if we have some bad blood revenge in the air, because they have taken our scalp in the 2019 Final. I don’t want that to be the driving force. When the lads are tired and that keeps them going, I will accept that. We need to be more concentrated on our game plan and playing with enough energy and desire to earn the right to go through to the next round. Whoever the opponent is, we have to back ourselves and we have got to make sure that we get through to the next round. If we do that all the way though then we can maybe achieve what we want to achieve.

Who is in and who is out:

We have got some of the injured players who have brought themselves back into the frame, like Samir Nurković and Leonardo Castro. They are not completely 100% but they are close enough to be selectable. We have Cole Alexander, whose dislocated elbow means he is out of the equation. Njabulo Ngcobo got burned and he will be out for a while. Daniel Akpeyi has been at the AFCON and has had some enforced leave. We have three good goalkeepers challenging him and he has not been considered for this one. We have some players out and I am happy we have some coming back. I am happy with the lads we have available for selection. We are quietly confident, not shouting from the top of houses.