The threats facing Supersport United's title challenge

Stuart Baxter has so far been thwarted in his attempts to bring in some depth to his star-studded SuperSport United squad this January transfer window‚ but that should not diminish their status as one of the favourites for the Absa Premiership title this season.

Having said that‚ there are a few factors counting against Matsatsantsa which could potentially derail their hopes.

SuperSport currently head the table on goal-difference from BidVest Wits and Cape Town City‚ having played a games less than the latter and a game more than the former.

But they are just six points ahead of Mamelodi Sundowns having played five games more‚ which does give their position as frontrunners a falsehood.

They are the team that will perhaps be most negatively effected by the extension of the Premier Soccer League season‚ given that they could lose New Zealanders Michael Boxall and Jeremy Brockie for the final round of league matches.

• PSL plays it safe, prolongs seasonTHE Premier Soccer League has officially extended the end of the Absa Premiership season to June 17 and pushed the Nedbank Cup final to June 24 as it tries to cram in the remaining 2016-2017 fixtures. 

Those games will clash with the FIFA Confederations Cup in Russia‚ for which New Zealand have already qualified.

Boxall is a near certainty to go to that tournament‚ while Brockie has been in and out of the national team plans of late.

To lose one would be a blow‚ but to lose both could yet be decisive for SuperSport in a championship race that could very well go down to the wire.

Secondly‚ the team will enter the African Confederation Cup this year as Nedbank Cup holders and that will add both extra games‚ and potentially gruelling travel‚ to an already tight calendar.

They have a relatively comfortable trip to Madagascar in the preliminary round but if they get through that‚ a more taxing expedition to Sudan in the first round proper awaits them.

Given the nature of the competition‚ the club will likely field weakened teams.

• Wits vs Pirates league fixture postponed againThe Absa Premiership fixture between title contenders BidVest Wits and Orlando Pirates scheduled for February 3 has been postponed for a second time‚ with a new date yet to be announced. 

But the games will still provide a distraction to domestic matters.

Counting in their favour is the quality of their first team‚ barring Sundowns and perhaps BidVest Wits‚ as good as any in the PSL.

Add to that the know-how of Baxter‚ who won two titles in three seasons at Kaizer Chiefs‚ and it is a heady mix of talent and intelligence.

They will also play nine of their remaining 16 games at home‚ with their first two away trips of 2017 to strugglers Free State Stars and Highlands Park‚ to go with home matches against Lamontville Golden Arrows‚ Maritzburg United‚ Ajax Cape Town and Baroka FC.

Baxter will see all six of those games as winnable‚ giving the team some momentum at the re-start‚ which he has already said is key to any title challenge.

But it is in the transfer market where he will be disappointed so far.

• Key dates for the remainder of the PSL seasonThe decision by the Premier Soccer League to extend the 2016/17 season by three weeks has seen a shuffle of fixtures. 

He said at the end of 2016 that bringing in extra bodies was a priority in this window to allow him to rotate his stars‚ and so far nothing has happened.

“We are not a Chiefs‚ Pirates or Sundowns that has loads of money in the kitty almost all the time. But you are also talking to a coach who has had 17 fit players for the last three games‚” he said late last year.

“I don’t think I will be making many headlines for you [the media]‚ but we must be looking because of situation with injuries.”

Cameroon international fullback Jean-Patrick Abouna did not make the grade while on trial recently‚ and neither did former Wits junior forward Lucky Setelele.

In fact‚ instead of adding numbers to the squad‚ SuperSport have reduced them‚ sending national Under-23 defender Thabo Makhele on loan to Stellenbosch FC for the remainder of the season.

 - TMG Digital