Stellenbosch head coach Steve Barker admits their centre-back situation appears to be a curse as they continue to face challenges in that position.
Stellies lost their captain and one of the key players, Zitha Kwinika, to Kaizer Chiefs at the end of last season.
Rafiq De Goede, who took over the captaincy from Kwinika, also left in December to join Maritzburg United.
Both De Goede (58) and Kwinika (55) are in the top seven of Stellenbosch players with the most DStv Premiership appearances.
The club signed former Baroka captain Vusi Sibiya and Lasse Sobiech at the beginning of the season. The likes of Olwethu Makhanya and Liam de Kock were promoted from Stellies’ development side.
IS STELLENBOSCH FC CENTRE BACK POSITION CURSED?
But the club has had some bad luck in that position this season, with regular injuries forcing them to change the pairing in almost every match.
“We also just seem to be having the, I don’t know, the curse of the centre-backs this season,” said Barker.
“We just never have any sort of momentum or fluidity in the centre-back pairing. Just when I thought (Vusi) Sibiya and (Olwethu) Makhanya were starting to get a good relationship, Sibiya got injured.
“Lasse Sobiech got his opportunity; unfortunately, he got stitches. So that has just been a bit of a problem for us this season in terms of just getting that sort of stability at the back.”
BARKER CONFIDENT STELLIES WILL BOUNCE BACK
Stellenbosch are winless in their last eight matches and sits at a dangerous 13th position on the DStv Premiership log. Barker has backed the resilient Stellenbosch side to overcome this period.
“It’s just not going our way in terms of getting the results that we deserve from the performances. But that happens in football; we go through these patches. It’s always important in terms of how you deal with it. You bounce back from it, how you handle the pressure that comes when you don’t win matches.
“But we are a resilient team. We are a resilient club, so we will bounce back. I am convinced by the performances that we have had, and we deserve far more than we are getting right now.”
Stellies will face Orlando Pirates in their next league encounter on Sunday, 22 January, at Orlando Stadium.
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