Bafana Bafana coach Stuart Baxter has explained why he decided against calling up any of the players from the COSAFA squad for the AFCON finals.
Baxter on Sunday named his final 23-man selection set to represent South Africa at the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt, which kicks off next week Friday.
Three players, including Ben Motshwari, Fortune Makaringe and Kermit Erasmus were dropped from the 26-man squad that had initially assembled in Johannesburg.
The British tactician said the selection was done with a tactical balance in mind, considering that players such as Rivaldo Coetzee and Keagan Dolly had already been withdrawn.
"We've tried to put together a balanced squad that gives us tactical options. I think the strength of the squad is the togetherness of the squad," said Baxter.
"It's been very difficult to achieve that balance. We lost a centre-back [Rivaldo Coetzee], and we've only realised in the last couple of days that we're not going to get him into the squad.
"We have Sifiso Hlanti and Ramahlwe Mphahlele who can play centre-back, both of whom also had small injuries. So, we were considering whether we should go out [and call someone else in].
"But now most centre-backs probably haven't been doing anything for at least a couple of weeks, so do we then take one from COSAFA? We decided we would solve it in house."
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Though he indicated his intention to give some of the 'junior' players from David Notoane's camp a look-in, Baxter backtracked and explained that dropping someone who had already been part of the preliminary preparations would be detrimental to the squad's unity.
"We initially said that COSAFA could be a ground where we could pick up a couple of players if needed, but the longer the camp went on, we decided that we should replenish the squad from within the squad," he added.
"It's better to not remove a player now that's been working with us for seven days and bring someone in from COSAFA, who probably won't go straight into the team.
"So, I think the strength of the squad is going to be the harmony of the squad – the 'we-feeling' and that they're very goal-orientated."