Barker not letting Stellies ‘relax’ despite big lead

STELLENBOSCH FC head coach Steve Barker is adamant his side will be at their highest level in terms of professionalism in the second leg of their preliminary round encounter in the CAF Confederation Cup.

Stellies go into this match with a sizeable three-goal advantage having thumped Eswatini side Nsingizini Hotspurs in the first leg last week.

The two teams meet again at Durban’s Moses Mabhida Stadium today (3pm kick-off).

In the build-up to this encounter, questions were posed about the attitude of the Stellies players, having outclassed their opponents in every department last time out.

“I’ll never allow the players to relax or be complacent. I don’t want to look at the scoreline, I want to look at the new game which needs to be won,” Barker said at the pre-match media conference yesterday.

“We can’t accept that we go into any game feeling relaxed. We are professionals and we need to behave professionally, and we need to play to the best of our ability from the first minute all the way to the 96th or whatever it is.”

The Cape Winelands-based outfit are venturing into unfamiliar territory in continental football, still high on the glamour of participating in their first Confederation Cup.

Barker and his technical team have proven in recent years to be one of the best, not only locally but arguably on the continent as well.

When quizzed about the kind of difficulties he expects to encounter in their first campaign in the competition, Barker listed the prospect of facing unfamiliar opposition as well as juggling a congested fixture schedule with their ambitions weighing heavy on their shoulders.

“Unknown opposition (is one of the challenges), we are a club that prides itself on analysis of the opposition and learning the opposition very well. When you play against teams that you aren’t familiar with or have any ability to watch regularly, we will go into games a little bit blind,” he explained.

If Stellies can hold onto their lead, they’ll face Congolese giants AS Vita Club in the second round of the preliminary stage.

The club are also having to manoeuvre stadium complexities with their regular home ground of Danie Craven Stadium deemed not up to standard, forcing them to play their home games in Durban.

“Travelling is a challenge obviously as well, not playing at home is a challenge, managing your squad is a challenge, playing midweek away again is another challenge when the league starts again,” Barker said.

Despite the Betway Premiership only starting on September 14, Stellies will contest a gruelling two-legged MTN8 semi-final tie with Mamelodi Sundowns after their CAF commitments.

Barker is being forced to either seek reinforcements from within the club’s fruitful junior ranks or go into the transfer market having lost a couple of his key players.

Stellenbosch will be eager to keep their early-season momentum going with another positive showing this afternoon.