Stellenbosch coach Steve Barker is confident his players will rise up for the occasion despite playing the Nedbank Cup quarter-final game against Kaizer Chiefs at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Gqeberha.
Stellies wanted the match to be staged in the Western Cape, but there was no available pitch for the high-profile fixture.
The tactician concedes it is a blow, especially for the fans, but remained optimistic his players will deliver, having played in different stadiums this season both domestically and abroad, thanks to their participation in the Caf Confederation Cup where they are in the quarter-final.
‘We've built up a resilience and using it for motivation' – Barker
“I've said it before, it is obviously disappointing; we want to be playing at home and not have to travel as well as, more importantly, play in front of our home fans, which is obviously more accessible if it's here,” Barker said ahead of the game.
“But look, we've learnt this season to be resilient when it comes to stadiums and not always having the opportunity to play all our games where we want to, so I think we've built up resilience and we just use it as sort of motivation.
“Obviously, we'd want to be here, but we're not, so let's not allow that to get in between what we want to achieve – at the end of the day, [NMB Stadium] is a great stadium with a nice pitch, and it will hopefully be a full stadium, which is what players also want. But in saying all of that, there is a tinge of disappointment that we can't play in front of our fans,” he added.
Stellies have to be prepared against Chiefs
This will be the third time the two teams are set to meet in the ongoing campaign across all competitions. The initial two meetings were in the Premier Soccer League and Chiefs won 2-1 and 1-0 respectively.
“As you rightly say, they do show signs of being a really good team, and it's just; from their point of view, looking for more consistency,” Barker continued.
“But any team that has the individual qualities they have and the crowd support they get, it always makes them a difficult opponent.
“And we anticipate it's going to be a really tough and competitive encounter, and therefore we have to be really well prepared for any eventuality,” he concluded.
