Stellenbosch coach Steve Barker says he wouldn’t mind being drawn in the same group as Kaizer Chiefs.
Stellies booked their place in the CAF Confederation Cup group stages with an emphatic win over 15 de Agosto at Athlone Stadium on Sunday.
Barker explained that facing Chiefs would help his side cut down on travel across the continent — a welcome advantage for the Cape Winelands club, which remains the only top-flight team from Cape Town competing in the PSL.
Chiefs also advanced to the group stages after defeating AS Simba 3-1 on aggregate on Sunday.
According to CAF regulations, two clubs from the same member association can be drawn in the same group — a scenario Barker says he would happily welcome.
“I wouldn’t mind having them in our group because that would mean one less travel,” said the Stellenbosch boss.
The CAF Interclub Group Stage Draw for the CAF Champions League and Confederation Cup on Monday, 3 November.
The Draw CAF Interclub Draw will be held at the studios of CAF Broadcast partner SuperSport in Johannesburg, South Africa from 13h00 local time.
Stellies’ forthcoming foray into the Confederations Cup won’t be their first, as they participated in the competition last season, where they exited the competition at the semi-final stage at the hands of Tanzanian giants, Simba S.C.
Barker has suggested that their prior experience in the competition will hold them in good stead as they look to improve on last season’s showing.
“I think obviously the experience we gained is something that now we have in our sort of arsenal, in terms of just experiencing the continent,” he said.
“We started off difficult; it wasn’t easy with our first two matches not getting anything from it, so we recovered well enough to then make the knockout stages.”
Barker’s side had to contend with the added challenge of playing outside of the Western Cape, with their Confederations Cup home games being played in Durban at Moses Mabhida Stadium.
“But hopefully our experience that we gained can stand us in good stead, and yeah, also hoping and trusting that Athlone Stadium can become our home venue for the group stages.
“I’m not sure where we are with approval of it, because what made it difficult last season was just obviously the traveling and playing out of the Western Cape,” added Barker.
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