Katsande stands amongst the most cautioned players this season with eight yellow cards plus one red card in the 17 games that he has played so far but instead of being getting further punitive measures from his coach Katsande has all the support from Baxter.
“He has been an important player for us in that he has improved his understanding of the game, his role and his decision making in the game. Even though he has picked up a lot of yellow cards I think he has played his role well.
“He picks up so many yellow cards because he is a competitor…he lives on the edge and as a coach if you take that away from him then you take away big part of his game.
“So I am very loathe to calm him down too much because he has this intimidating factor as he competes, he breaks up the opponents play and you don’t want to take that away from him but at the same time you cannot afford to have him giving away silly free-kicks.
“I think it has been a bit of a balancing act and I think he has gotten better and space to get even better but that will all come with experience,” says Baxter.
Even Katsande believes his long list of yellow cards is justified in that all comes from executing his duties and putting the interests of the team first.
“This is not stupid yellow cards that I get but rather cards that come to the benefit of the team because I am always trying to cover up tactical fouls. It is not like I get those stupid cards where I swear at people or elbowing opponents when it is not necessary.
“For me I am not worried about the cards because for as long as the team is doing well I will always be happy. Plus whenever I play we concede less.
“It is not like I am blowing my own horn but if you check in all the games that I play we win and don’t usually concede,” Katsande adds.