Kaizer Chiefs coach Stuart Baxter has given reason why he left out Super Eagles keeper Daniel Akpeyi and fellow goalkeeper
Itumeleng Khune in the Nedbank Cup tie against Galaxy which say the Chiefs crashing out Saturday.
According to Baxter Akpeyi was at the just ended Nations cup but did not play a match and need to overcome match rustiness before heading into competitive action.
Baxter used goalkeeper Brandon Petersen in his Nedbank Cup starting XI against TS Galaxy on Saturday ahead of Daniel Akpeyi and Itumeleng Khune and the Chiefs lost by a lone goal crashing out of the championship in the round of 32.
The question doing the rounds is why coach Baxter decided to play Petersen instead of Akpeyi and crowd favourite Khune.
“Itu played in the Compact Cup, and we were pleased to see that he was keeping his level,” Baxter told media after the loss.
“Daniel was away at Afcon. He came back after not playing at the AFCON and having missed a lot of our training, so it was going to be between the other three for [Saturday] evening.
“Brandon was outstanding on the camp in Cape Town. Reports from the staff flagged up that he was really good. When I then watched the training, Bruce [Bvuma], Itu and Brandon, Brandon was performing very well.
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“It was a close one. It was a close call, but we looked at the way we thought they were going to play, and Brandon is the one we chose. His attributes suited this game quite well and I thought he had a very good game,” Baxter added.
Akpeyi was one of the three goalkeepers in the super eagles team to the recently ended Nations cup in Cameroon. It was was however Maduka Okoye that was on duty as Eagles booked exit in the round of 16 after a lone goal loss to Tunisia.