MPUMALANGA Black Aces coach Clive Barker turns 70 in two months and is scheduled for a knee operation at the end of the season.

But even that will not stop the Premier League's oldest coach from negotiating an extension to his two-year contract with Mpumalanga Black Aces.

The 1996 Africa Cup of Nations winner with Bafana Bafana wants more, and if yesterday's coach of the third quarter (Q3) award in the Premiership is anything to go by, "The Dog" still has plenty of bite.

"I've stuck around to prove you guys wrong," joked Barker, before giving a more serious response regarding his future.

"We will let these four remaining games go, then I'm going to have an operation in Durban to have my knee reconstructed.

"But we [the coach and Aces management] will have a discussion before I go. "

There was some truth in Barker's joke earlier. He has proved his detractors wrong in two consecutive seasons and at two different clubs.

Last season Barker only had six months to turn the tide at Bidvest Wits after Antonio Lopez Habas had made a mess of things and departed.

Wits finished fourth - their highest league position in seven seasons. Ahead of their clash against Mamelodi Sundowns tonight, Aces lie in sixth place.

Wits striker S'thembiso Ngcobo claimed the player of the quarter accolade.