Baxter believes Mathoho returning to his best

Cape Town - Bafana Bafana coach Stuart Baxter believes that Kaizer Chiefs defender Erick 'Tower' Mathoho has reclaimed his best form in recent weeks.

The tall central defender appeared to suffer a dip in form in September and was sent off in consecutive matches for club and country, which saw him missing Bafana Bafana's last two World Cup qualifiers through suspension.

But Mathoho has helped Amakhosi keep four clean sheets in their last four matches and seems to be back to his best.

Baxter, who knows Mathoho well from the three years they spent at Chiefs together, feels that the 27-year-old has found his form again, which means he now faces a difficult selection choice at the back. Especially with Bafana captain and Bidvest Wits central defender Thulani Hlatshwayo also back from injury.

"Tower has been progressing. I think Tower had a patch where he was a little bit unsure of himself. Maybe he was thinking too much about things that were happening around him, but I think he has been progressing nicely to get back to his normal self," Baxter said.

"I wish I had headaches like that all over the field. Morgan [Gould] and Clayton [Daniels] did well against Burkina Faso. They know each other very well. 

"So we are going to look at all the options and the combinations and we will pick the squad that we think will be most unpleasant to play against," Baxter added.

South Africa are set to play Senegal in home and away World Cup qualifying matches on 10 and 14 November respectively, with six points needed to book their spot at the World Cup in Russia next year.

Kick off is at 19:00.