Mamelodi Sundowns will look to pull away from the chasing pack at the top of the Betway Premiership with all three points against Stellenbosch on Wednesday.
Despite this, Stellenbosch are confident they can secure a third consecutive win over the reigning PSL champions, bolstered by their current form and a strong start to the season.
Coach Steve Barker emphasized that Wednesday’s league clash will be a completely different challenge compared to their previous MTN8 encounters.
“Playing against a great team like Sundowns who are top of the league is a big challenge for us but we want to aspire to challenge and these types of games become big for us. It is up to us to continue getting points in the league so that we can stay in touch,” said Barker via the club’s media department.
“It will be a different kind of game, obviously a player like [Iqraam] Rayners was not available in the MTN8, he is on very good goalscoring form so I think they are a stronger team but I believe we’ve also grown since the MTN8 and we know those results don’t count for anything.”
Barker acknowledged the potential impact of key players like Iqraam Rayners, who was unavailable during the MTN8, on Sundowns’ strength. However, he expressed confidence in Stellenbosch’s own development since those matches, emphasizing that past results hold no bearing on the upcoming encounter.