Watch Kaizer Chiefs coach Stuart Baxter’s pre-match press conference ahead of the Soweto derby against Orlando Pirates where the Amakhosi mentor insisted the game has not lost it’s importance.

The Soweto giants face off in the DStv Premiership on Saturday with both sides desperate for three points in their pursuit of the continental spots up for grabs behind runaway league leaders Mamelodi Sundowns.

The Brazilians are 16 points clear of third placed Chiefs, although the Glamour Boys do have three matches in hand, two that are the subject of an ongoing case with the Premier Soccer League after they were not played in December.

Meanwhile Pirates are fourth and are 17 points behind Downs with a game in hand.

With Sundowns so dominant many have questioned whether the derby has lost its importance and spark, but the Chiefs coach insisted this was not the case.

“I don’t accept that,” Baxter told journalists in the build-up to the Soweto Derby before adding, “because if you ask our supporters, if you ask the Pirates supporters, their sponsors our ours – anybody involved with each football club, it’s not only bragging rights or the three points.”

“There’s history and prestige, which makes it much more special than any normal game. For all those respects, we’ve been working very hard and as we move closer to the game obviously the focus is on being able to come into the game in the right frame of mind so we can give a good performance,” Baxter explained.

“That’s what we are working on at the moment. The tragedy is that the supporters are not there, and that’s what makes it the Soweto Derby really. But for all the other reasons I’ve given we still be fired up for it and ready to go.”

Watch Baxter’s pre-match presser here:

Video courtsey of Front Runner.