Stellenbosch FC head coach Steve Barker is confident that his side can overturn a 1-0 deficit when his side welcomes Simba SC to Durban for the CAF Confederation Cup semi-final second leg.

Stellies are set to host Simba SC at Moses Mabhida Stadium on Sunday after suffering a narrow 1-0 defeat to the Tanzanian giants in the first leg last weekend.

“Going 1-0 down in Tanzania, where we had hoped to get away with a more positive result and maybe an away goal, is a precarious scoreline but it’s not long ago that Simba themselves lost 2-0 away from home and then won their home game 2-0 [in the quarter-finals],” Barker said.

“We’re happy to be back home, and that we are still in the tie and in a competitive position. We have strong belief and confidence that we can continue to exceed expectations, and there’s no reason we can’t go into the game and make sure we get ourselves into a final.

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“Like any football match, you want to be difficult to break down. We’ve shown that in all the ties we’ve played, including MTN8 games where it’s home and away, so we’re confident that we can keep a clean sheet and that we can apply pressure at the other end and get the goal.

“…We know what we need to do. We know that we have to score and try not to concede. Football is football, and you can never say that it can never happen, and if we do concede, then we know we’ll need to win by two goals.

“It’s a great position to be playing at this stage of the competition—it’s been a massive learning curve for us as a football team—and it’s not something that we fear or that we are afraid of. We relish taking on the challenge.

“As I said, they were previously able to come back from a 2-0 scoreline, so there’s no reason we can’t do the same from a 1-0 scoreline.”

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Sunday’s match will be played in Durban as opposed to Stellies’ traditional home at Danie Craven Stadium, but Barker believes that his side will not be disadvantaged by the match being played outside of Stellenbosch.

“It’s similar to the first leg, where Simba did not play at their home ground, but it’s not difficult for us. Durban is home in the sense that it is in our country, and we’ve played many matches here of late, so we’re familiar with the surroundings,” he said.

“We enjoy being in Durban, and Moses Mabhida Stadium has been a kind field for us for the most part. So, no, it shouldn’t be difficult [playing away from home] as it’s still an advantage to be playing in our home country and those familiar surroundings.”

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Barker concluded, “…A lot of people didn’t believe that we could get past Zamalek to get to the semi-final, and maybe some people believe we can’t make the final, but I’ve said from day one that any team that underestimates us in this competition will do so at their peril.

“The players are raring to go. We felt a bit hard done by in Tanzania, and this is an opportunity on home soil to correct that. We’ve got nothing to lose. We can go out there with excitement and desire and just have a go.

“It’s a once-off game now. We want to be in the final and we’ve always said that if we make a semi-final, we might as well go to the final, and once we’re there we say we might as well win it.”