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Baxter draws Morton, Katsande comparison

Cape Town - SuperSport United coach Stuart Baxter has likened hard-tackling midfielder Michael Morton to Kaizer Chiefs' Willard Katsande.

Morton was instrumental in the Tshwane side's reversal of fortunes after a dismal start to the 2015/16 campaign, as he helped the club win the Nedbank Cup final against Orlando Pirates last month.

Baxter, who joined Matsatsantsa in January, believes the former Maritzburg United midfielder's style of play and development is similar to that of Amakhosi's Player of the Season, or even Manchester United's Wayne Rooney.

"In terms of development, it's probably a good comparison," Baxter told KickOff.

"Willard [Katsande] did a good job himself. For me he was over-aggressive; Wayne Rooney was like that at some stage.

"To change that into being aggressive just enough is difficult, because sometimes if you say that a player backs off and he doesn't give you what he can.

"That's the risk with trying to do that with like a Katsande, Rooney or a Morton."

Baxter also highlighted Morton's positioning as one area that needed to improve going forward, to help him channel his energy in the right direction.

"Michael has done a great job. I can't talk about what he did before but some have said to me that Michael has improved a lot," Baxter added.

"The only thing I've done with him is to give him a clearer role and a clear picture of what is expected from him so he can channel the energy into that.

"With a player that has so much much energy, if you don't do that, he tends to be all over the place trying to use that energy to solve every problem, but you can't because that builds frustration."

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