South Africa assistant coach Dick Muir has backed winger Bryan Habana to recover from his recent slump in form in the near future.

The former IRB Player of the Year has endured a wretched run of form in 2010, with his only tries coming for the world champions in twin Tests against Italy.

He has failed to score for the Springboks in their remaining six games, including the entire Tri-Nations, while crucial errors against New Zealand and Australia in the last two weeks gifted tries to the opponents.

Coach Peter de Villiers resisted calls to axe him for this week's match against Australia in Bloemfontein, however, and Muir backed the decision.

"All great players have these spells where they lose form," said the backs coach.

"Bryan has set the bar very high, so we probably notice it more.

"He's one of the most dedicated players and he's working hard to get back to his best, so I'm not overly concerned about his form."

After scoring against the Italians in June, Habana moved level with Joost van der Westhuizen as the country's most prolific try-scorer - with a total of 38 scores.

He has failed to make the record his own since then, but Muir does not believe the pressure is getting to him.

"I don't think breaking the try-scoring record is having any effect on him," added Muir.

"He's bigger than that and he plays for the team.

"I've encouraged Bryan to come off his wing and look for work, and he'll be rewarded. If he makes one glaring mistake, everyone jumps to conclusions that he's off form.

"That's the business we're in - we get criticised. It's about being bigger than that and working hard to rectify it."

Muir said they were expecting a different approach from the Wallabies this week, but was confident the hosts were fully prepared.

He added: "We are expecting the Aussies to be more direct.

"If you look at the selection changes they have made, they want to muscle up and be a little more physical.

"We want to see steady improvement and certainly from where we started to where we are at now there has been an improvement.

"When you eventually get a result there is a sense of relief but it is about performance and we are all working very hard towards the World Cup and that's the ultimate goal for us."