Kaizer Chiefs coach Stuart Baxter says his side are ready for a “very tough” encounter against Mamelodi Sundowns in the MTN8 quarter-finals on Sunday afternoon.

The Glamour Boys will open their new campaign with a trip to the Lucas Moripe Stadium when they take on the Brazilians in this highly-anticipated fixture.

Both teams will be eyeing a place in the semi-finals but Baxter believes his side are well prepared for a battle and is confident his side can make it to the next round by exploiting Sundowns’ weaknesses.

“The players have worked really hard and really well all week. We are a work in progress, but I think they’ve made amazing progress already in just 10-14 days,” Baxter told his club’s official website.

“We’ve come quite a long way. I am happy with where we are. We have a lot of work to do, but I think we’re surprisingly ready for what will be a very tough game.

He added: “It’s a bit short-sighted to say we’re on track if we win. We need to be lifting our gaze a little bit further than that. Every journey has a first step and this game is the first real step.

“We’ve played in the Carling Cup and that was preparation. It was okay. But just winning that game on penalties doesn’t mean everything is hunky dory. This one is the same. If we win this one, it will be very nice. We’re professionals, so we need to win.

“But it is the first step. We should be looking at the pathway and not the destination. We have both eyes fixed on what we need to do now. It’s about performance, performance, performance, to create a culture and in future the silverware will come.

“They are a team that wants to play football, they want to play a possession-based game. They mix it up by popping a few over the top. We have to be on our mettle in terms of our organisational skills.

“We’ve got to hurt them when we get the ball. We’ve got to exploit the weaknesses that all teams have when they present themselves. If we do that and if we believe in ourselves, this is going to be a good game,” concludes Baxter.