Stellenbosch FC coach Steve Barker says his young and exciting players deserve to win the Carling Knockout trophy because they have been brilliant this season.
Barker’s side is enjoying a cushion of having not lost in the last nine matches in all competitions, having last lost to all-conquering Mamelodi Sundowns in September in the DStv Premiership match away.
Of course, in the league, no one can put up against Sundowns, whose record start in the PSL continued as the bottom side Cape Town Spurs were next to be preyed by the Tshwane giants on Wednesday.
Coach Barker is preparing his side for the maiden cup final as they host TS Galaxy in what promised to be a refreshing final between the two sides at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Carling (15:00).
“I think one hundred percent we deserve to be in the final,” said Barker at the press conference on Thursday at the match venue.
“We have shown good consistency in the cup, some positive results. As you said, the unbeaten road, I think we deserve firstly to be here, and I do believe as a football club deserve to be challenging for the cup.
“If it is our time, our day, then that would be the case. I just think this group of players have just found a way, found the confidence, found the belief, we found the way that we are a difficult team to play against.
“But it all comes on the day that we still must execute that plan and that is my focus now to keep the players calm, and collected and let them do their thing on Saturday.”
Stellies’ journey to the final has been almost clean, having conceded just one goal in three previous rounds. They beat Chippa United 2-1 and followed that with a 2-0 victory over Polokwane City.
While they were sluggish against Richards Bay in the semifinal after arriving late in the game, they turned up the screws in the second half to 3-0 two weeks ago in Durban.
On the other hand, Galaxy knocked under-strength Mamelodi Sundowns in the first round on penalty shootouts.
It was the same against Sekhukhune United, before knocking Barker’s former club AmaZulu into the semifinal.
“It is a team that is well-organized, well-coached, lost big name players at the beginning of the season in (Melusi) Buthelezi to (Orlando Pirates), (Bathusi) Aubass (to Sundowns), Sphiwe Msimango (to Kaizer Chiefs) to name a few,” said Barker of his final opponents.
“But they have shown resilience to bounce back to reach the final. They are a team that won the final here already (2018/19 when Galaxy won the Nedbank Cup), so they have had that privilege and I’m sure the new coaching staff wants to emulate that team that won the Nedbank Cup.”
Barker was unlucky not to win the same Nedbank competition when his former club University of Pretoria, who were in the second tier, lost to Moroka Swallows in the 2009 final.
