Cape Town — Stellenbosch FC are in the midst of a fixture programme that was likely drawn straight out footballing hell.
Their last three matches have seen them face Orlando Pirates, Royal AM and neighbours Cape Town City in the iKapa derby. Both Royal AM (third) and City (second) finished above Stellies last season in the DStv Premiership, and Pirates are, of course, Pirates.
The fact that they are still unbeaten says plenty about their resolve, character, and ability.
But there seems to be no let up either. On Wednesday they travel to Fortress Loftus Versfeld to face champions Mamelodi Sundowns before returning home to host Kaizer Chiefs in their first-ever MTN8 quarter-final at Danie Craven Stadium.
Greater teams than Stellies have stumbled with such a dreadful list of fixtures, but coach Steve Barker is confident that his team can repeat their Houdini act of last season when they trounced Sundowns 3-0 in their backyard.
“Sundowns are the benchmark club in the county the last few years coming off a treble season. We know their quality and depth. We do come off a good victory over them away from home. It’s a great opportunity to gauge where we are as a team this season. An exciting challenge lies ahead, and we have to go into the game with a certain amount of self belief,” Barker said.
“It is important that we prioritise every fixture, both the league games and the Cup fixture. Both are as important as each other. To put yourself in a position to play MTN8, you have to finish high in the league, so we want to get three points from the Sundowns game, and at the same time once the game is over, shift our focus to a big Cup game on Sunday. Every game is equally important to us.”
IOL Sport