Stellenbosch coach Steve Barker has tipped his former charge, Iqraam Rayners, to be one of the candidates for the coveted Player of the Season accolade, alongside his Mamelodi Sundowns teammates in Lucas Riveiro and Marcelo Allende.
“He is a contender for Player of the Season, he has to be if you look at the amount of goals he scored and the amount of assists he has had. He's a key player, so there's no doubt that Player of the Season must come from Sundowns,'' Barker said after Sunday's 3-0 defeat to Sundowns at Lucas Moripe Stadium, where Rayners netted his 13th league goal of the campaign.
“They've got a [few] candidates ... Ribeiro has had a really good season, so is Iqraam and a player such as Allende has been influential [as well].”
The 29-year-old Rayners, who joined Sundowns from Stellenbosch last August, also boasts an impressive nine league assists, with Sekhukhune United's Keletso Makgalwa the only player with more assists (11) than him in the Betway Premiership this season. Rayners is one goal behind the league's top- scorer Ribeiro.
Rayners is a contender for Player of the Season – Barker
Image: Lefty Shivambu
Stellenbosch coach Steve Barker has tipped his former charge, Iqraam Rayners, to be one of the candidates for the coveted Player of the Season accolade, alongside his Mamelodi Sundowns teammates in Lucas Riveiro and Marcelo Allende.
“He is a contender for Player of the Season, he has to be if you look at the amount of goals he scored and the amount of assists he has had. He's a key player, so there's no doubt that Player of the Season must come from Sundowns,'' Barker said after Sunday's 3-0 defeat to Sundowns at Lucas Moripe Stadium, where Rayners netted his 13th league goal of the campaign.
“They've got a [few] candidates ... Ribeiro has had a really good season, so is Iqraam and a player such as Allende has been influential [as well].”
The 29-year-old Rayners, who joined Sundowns from Stellenbosch last August, also boasts an impressive nine league assists, with Sekhukhune United's Keletso Makgalwa the only player with more assists (11) than him in the Betway Premiership this season. Rayners is one goal behind the league's top- scorer Ribeiro.
Barker is also vouching for one of his defenders in Thabo Moloisane, Fawaaz Basadien and Ismaël Toure to be nominated for the Defender of the Season gong, albeit feeling the drubbing by champions elect, Sundowns, has stained their defensive record a bit.
“Before today [Sunday], we had only conceded 17 goals in the league and I felt that the Defender of the Season, we have some really good candidates there. Moloisane, Basadien and even Toure, so conceding three today was not part of the plan, but I still trust that we have defenders that deserve to be nominated,'' the Stellies mentor said.
Stellies' defeat at Sundowns also hurt their chances of finishing third to qualify for the CAF Confederation Cup for a second season running, as they remain fourth, just a point behind third-placed Sekhukhune with two games left against SuperSport United and Cape Town City home and away on Saturday and May 24, respectively.
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