Stellenbosch FC goalkeeper Sage Stephens has urged his teammates to quickly move on from their MTN8 final defeat to Orlando Pirates and focus on defending their Carling Cup title.
The draw for the competition was held on Tuesday, pairing Stellies with AmaZulu, who have recently appointed Arthur Zwane and Vusumuzi Vilakazi as co-coaches.
Stephens emphasized the importance of maintaining a positive outlook and avoiding dwelling on the past.
“No, I think it definitely helps, like you said the nice is that it shows that we’re competing. To come off the back of a cup final, come to the launch and know your opponents and being the defending champions, it’s special, it shows that Stellensbosch is competing like we want to, like we aim to and it makes us feel very proud and humble at the same time,” Stephens said.
The seasoned goalkeeper also acknowledged the challenges players might face in recovering from the controversial MTN8 loss but assured that the club has support systems in place to help them cope.
“We’re getting huge support, you know, not only from the people in Stellenbosch, the rest of the country with the messages that come through of support. Unfortunately, we cannot control what happened in the MTN8 final but like I said it’s gone now and definitely we’ve put things in place to help players through this because it’s difficult to lose a cup final,” he added.
“It’s not easy and the biggest thing and the best players, they learn to forget. So, that’s something that we’re gonna have to apply at Stellenbosch, we need to learn to forget this event.”