Stellies target second trophy in topflight

Stellenbosch coach Steve Barker is enjoying his side's rise in cup competitions and is aiming to mount a serious challenge in the Nedbank Cup.

Stellies host Polokwane City in the round of 16 of the competition at Danie Craven Stadium tomorrow (7pm).

Barker's men, who won their first trophy in the topflight with the Carling Knockout in 2023, have been enjoying a decent run in cup competitions in the last two seasons.

Stellies reached the semifinals in the last two editions of the Nedbank Cup. “It's nice to be in cup competitions and going far. Maybe four, five years ago, teams would have wanted to draw us in the cup, saying, ja, we wouldn't mind playing Stellenbosch', but now I think it has changed. I believe most teams know now that they have to be at their best to beat us and that's enjoyable,'' Barker said yesterday.

“It's always nice to play in this type of competition. We're three games away from another final. Having gotten to two semifinals of the Nedbank Cup in the last two seasons, we'd really want to go one [step] further and get to the final, and see if we can compete and win the trophy.”

Barker acknowledged they needed to be in their element to beat Rise and Shine, who've emerged as one of this season's surprise packages, comfortably occupying the third spot on the Betway Premiership table.

“Everyone knows that Polokwane are having a very good season, so we do anticipate that for us to advance, we will have to be playing at our best. We have to find a bit of form that maybe in the last couple of games we lacked,'' Barker said.

The Stellies coach also sounded pleased to have the likes of  Fawaaz Basadien, Ashley Cupido and Thato Khiba back; they all missed Friday's 1-0 home defeat to Kaizer Chiefs, albeit Sihle Nduli and Kyle Jurgens are suspended, while Bradley Mojela alongside Athenkosi Mcaba are sidelined with injuries.

“Fortunately, a lot of the players that weren't available, especially against Chiefs, it seems like the majority of them will be available...the only doubtful [one] is Mojela who's out for a long term, as well as Mcaba, who has a thigh strain. We also have two suspensions in Nduli and Jurgens,'' Barker said.

SowetanLIVE