Steve Barker says improved Stellenbosch focused on Arrows scalp

Stellies have endured a woeful start to their league campaign and come into this tie in 15th place with just six points from their opening nine games.

They did, however, manage a goalless draw in Equatorial Guinea against FC 15 de Agosto de Akonibe in their last clash to keep their hopes of qualifying for the Confederation Cup proper.

Speaking after the game, Barker explained in the Sowetan: "It wasn't an easy encounter. We encountered a lot of difficulties within the game. The pitch wasn't great, and the weather conditions were also not favourable [as it was very hot], but I think we applied ourselves well for the majority of the game.

"Our focus has now shifted to the league game against Arrows. It’s a big league game, so once we’re finished with it, we will start preparing for the second leg.

Barker added that his team are improving with every game, but they still need to improve their finishing. He said: "Hopefully, we will get the job done at home in the second leg to get into the group stages. It is always important to keep clean sheets because that’s key to winning football matches.

“We just need to continue working on our finishing because we create opportunities. We should be converting more opportunities than we are at the moment. Our final third decision-making and execution need to be better."