Stellenbosch FC coach Steve Barker is looking to end to the campaign strongly when his side takes on TS Galaxy in the season-finale this weekend.

Stellies are set to play host to TS Galaxy at the Danie Craven Stadium on Saturday afternoon in the club’s final match of the 2022/23 DStv Premiership campaign.

Victory for Barker’s side will ensure that the team ends the season in sixth position but the coach is wary that he has other clubs trailing close behind in the race for a top-eight finish in the log standings.

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“It’s extremely important to end the season on a high note. It basically boils down to the last game whether we have a really good season, or an average one,” Barker said. “A victory at home this weekend would ensure that we finish in the top six and would show good consistency from last season.

“Getting into that position, on the back of a good Nedbank Cup run, makes this a vitally important game because there are a lot of teams battling for those spots. We need to play to our full potential as a team. We need to be committed to the match, come with the right mentality and execute our game plan.

“Technically and tactically we need to be really spot on because TS Galaxy are a good team themselves. We’ve always had tight encounters against them – except in the Nedbank Cup this season which was an avalanche of goals – so they have ambitions of also finishing in the top eight.

“It won’t be an easy game so we have to do well, like we have done in the last few months to put us in a position to finish in the top six in the league standings.”

You can watch Steve Barker’s full pre-match interview in the video below. Don’t forget to hit subscribe for more exclusive SFC content.

Barker will have to do without the services of Antonio van Wyk and Kyle Jurgens for the encounter after the pair traveled to Mumbai, India with the club’s U-21 side earlier this week to defend the Premier League Next Generation Cup.

“It’s a great opportunity for the youngsters to go to India and get that exposure,” he added. Kyle Jurgens and Antonio van Wyk from the first team have been given that opportunity to go and hopefully, they will do well.

“Hopefully the team will do well and defend the cup they won last year, so we’re looking forward to following their progress and we wish them well.

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“It wasn’t an easy decision (on which players would travel) because there were a couple of other young players who could also have gone to India, but it’s an important game for us against Galaxy this weekend so it was important that we got the balance right on who goes and who stays so that we can achieve our targets.”

Kick-off for this afternoon’s encounter is at 15h00 and tickets are available to purchase at R20.00 from Webtickets and Pick ‘n Pay outlets.