After their 3-1 win over TS Galaxy to reach the MTN8 semi-finals, Stellenbosch FC coach Steve Barker explained the reason why Deano Van Rooyen did not start the game on Sunday.
Van Rooyen, who captained the club for most of last season, was on the bench, and did make an appearance for the final five minutes of the game.
The 27-year-old has been heavily linked with a transfer to Orlando Pirates, and when asked if that was the reason for his exclusion, Barker explained that the main cause was down to the player carrying a niggle.
“No, not totally with Deano,” Barker said at the post match press conference.
“He has had a bit of a niggle the last couple of days, he didn’t train two of the days in this week. So it was a little bit more precautionary plus, also the conditions of the pitch. We also felt a player like Kyle probably a little bit more sort of longer ball direct.
“I wasn’t too sure maybe they’d have started a player like Nurkovic, I know he didn’t play much in the pre-season, but we thought because of the pitch, it might become that type of game, where Kyle is a bit more suited, and also obviously protecting Deano from further aggravating the injury. So that was that was the main cause.
“And yeah, obviously, media out there speculation and that, it does make the players you know… We’ve always said and maintained that we want to keep our players.
“We feel that we’re a team who can challenge for honours in the league as well as in cup competitions. And that’s our intention to work as hard as we can to ensure that we retain our squad.”
