Modiba received a rather peculiar call-up some two days after the initial squad had been named, raising eyebrows as to what led to the midfielder being omitted in the first place.
However, Baxter has explained that the 23-year-old SuperSport United attacker’s name had somehow been left off the list in error, and correct communication had to then be sent out to the club and player before a statement was issued.
The British tactician also stressed Modiba’s importance to the national team, given his age as well as his versatility as both a left-sided defender and winger.
“Between my office and the press conference, the name was omitted. I mean, it could be a typing or printing error, it could be that someone forgot or due to me not being clear with my desires in the squad,” explained Baxter.
“But, in some ways, it just got omitted and we immediately saw it. Dominic [Chimhavi, SAFA communications head] flagged it up for me and we sent out the correction as quickly as we could.
“Knowing that if we had sent out the wrong sort of correction then people were going to read into that, so you don’t want to say, ‘Oh, by the way, Aubrey’s involved as well’, because he’s got to hear that and might think, ‘Oh, I got in through the back door’.
“So, we wanted to play out the right sort of correction, but Aubrey was in the squad all along and because of his versatility he’s an important part of the squad.”