12 October 2018 – It’s all systems go for Bafana Bafana as they prepare to welcome Seychelles at FNB Stadium on Saturday, 13 October in a crucial AFCON qualifier. The match kicks off at 15h00.

The squad had its final training session at the match venue on Friday morning and coach Stuart Baxter looked relaxed but fired up for this encounter. The squad also looked sharp and focussed on the assignment at hand and fans should be in for a thriller of a game at the home of South African football.

“The players have looked good and sharp. They had a heavy PSL programme so that is a good balance. I must say the majority (of players) have been very impressive at training,” Baxter told the journalists after the final training session.

The coach said he was also impressed by the overall professionalism shown by the players.

“I said to the players last night when we did the presentation, ‘what is that you see written on the middle’ and they said ‘AFCON qualifier’.  This is what we need to do (qualify for 2019 AFCON). The players want to play in major tournaments and this is the message we emphasised all along.”

He said as professionals, players should always strive to represent the country and team in a correct way and achieve excellence.

He said the team would correct certain shortcoming that came out of the Libya game which was not getting into the box quick enough.

“We didn’t do some things much (during Libya game) in terms of our quick movement,” he added.

However, Baxter said the intensity shown by the players in training was encouraging saying if that is translated into the game, the fans will witness a good game.

On Lebo Mothiba, the Bafana Bafana coach said the player will have some pressure on his shoulders as this was probably his biggest game in national colours but was confident the big striker would hold his own.

“We want him to be natural; he is not very typical South African player but he holds the ball well and has a nose for the goal. We shouldn’t put unnecessary pressure on him though.”

The Bafana Bafana coach once again discarded the issue of lowly Seychelles saying he had asked his players to ‘concentrate on your own performance; discard the ranking’.

After Saturday’s game, Bafana Bafana fly out to Seychelles on Sunday for the second leg which is pencilled for  Tuesday, 16 October .