Steve Barker: Stellenbosch on verge of special season

The Cape Winelands outfit have so far enjoyed a fairytale run – reaching the MTN8 final earlier this season and then going as far as the semi-finals in their maiden CAF Confederation Cup campaign.

Barker hopes to end it on a high by securing third place in the league and return to continental football, and has therefore stressed that their final five matches are crucial. 

"I try and sort of remind the players that football will have highs and lows, and we'll have setbacks and good times, but we've come off an emotional two-legged game against Simba, which was not easy in Tanzania, so it's about just getting ourselves back to zero," said Barker.

"We're on a minus-three or four now from the disappointment, but we need to get back [to zero before] a big game on Wednesday in the league [against Chippa United], so it's important for us to refocus.

"And we've got less than a month to turn this season into a special season, so if we can manage to again qualify for Confederation Cup, having made the semi-final and the MTN8 final, I think we can look back at the season as having been a really good season, but there's still a lot of work to be done."

Stellies want to not only hold on to their best players but challenge the likes of Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns in the future, noted Barker.

"One of our strategic objectives is sustained success, which means you've got to keep doing what you're doing but find ways to be better at doing what you're doing," he added.

"Hopefully we can continue to attract good players, and hopefully we can maybe retain more of our players going forward – we are playing in Confed Cup and getting far in tournaments, so it's something players can look at this club as one that they want to leave because there are opportunities to be really successful.

"So, yeah, we've just got to stay humble, keep our feet on the ground and keep working as hard as we can each and everyday, and I do believe that eventually it's our responsibility to close the gap on the teams above us.

"But it's not an easy journey, we've got to keep climbing and taking one step at a time in the right direction."

READ: Stellies mentor Steve Barker maintains VAR a necessity