Erasmus is on form for the Citizens and, according to Baxter, has been made to feel like he is the main man at the club, which is something the coach would not be able to give the player in the national team camp.
Erasmus has bagged three goals in his last three matches for the Citizens, but it was not enough to earn him a place in the team.
“To start with the answer to the question ‘was he considered’? Yes absolutely. I had a very long conversation with his coach Benni McCarthy. I’ve been in touch with Kermit for a while. I went down to Cape Town to watch them play against a Swedish team called Hacken, because I wanted to see some of the Cape Town players playing against international opposition and how would they cope with that.
Kermit came in as a substitute and did exceptionally well for 20 minutes, so he showed that he does have that sort of international flavour to his game. So based on that, yes [he was considered]. Based on the fact that Kermit has not played a lot until, let’s say, the last four or five weeks, I think it’s probably reason to back off slightly.
“I did say to Benni that he has done a fantastic job with Kermit and one of the reasons I think he has done a fantastic job is that Kermit plays best when he is appreciated. Kermit has problems if he is on the periphery, because he feels like he is an important player and he is an important player. But maybe he does not deal with it too well if he is a squad player. Now he is feeling like he is the man at Cape Town and I did not think I could give him that scenario now with the national team. And based on that, I don’t think we would have got the best out of Kermit.”
Bafana are due to take on Libya on March 24 in Sfax, in their final 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier.