Home venue saga robbing Stellenbosch FC - Steve Barker

The side from the Winelands have not been able to host at any of the venues in the Western Cape for their quarter-final cup tie against Amakhosi, with Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Gqeberha the nearest destination for their home tie this weekend.

Barker again suggested this move was taking something away from both their supporters and the squad. 

"Ja, look, 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," said Barker.

"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 a 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."

Stellies’ league form against Chiefs this season has seen them twice come out on the losing end, however, Barker is hoping for an improvement in the cup.

"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," he added.

"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."

READ: Cup-winning habit all Kaizer Chiefs needs - Nasreddine Nabi