Stellenbosch FC coach Steve Barker says his side will look to bounce back following their defeat to Orlando Pirates in the final of the MTN8 this weekend.

The Maroons suffered a 3-0 defeat to the Buccaneers in the final of the MTN8 played at the Mbombela Stadium over the weekend.

Stellies will look to bounce back and return to winning ways when they take on AmaZulu at the Princess Magogo Stadium in Durban on Wednesday evening.

Barker’s side will come into this fixture sitting in 12th place in the Betway Premiership standings with four points from five matches.

“We’re preparing well for our match against AmaZulu during what is a very key period for us in the league,” Barker told his club’s official website.

“It’s important for us to bounce back and improve our league form and position by collecting as many points as we can to climb to where we want to be on the log table.

“We need to get over the loss in the weekend in the cup, it’s behind us now, and the important part is for us to focus on the next match. We’re coming up against a good AmaZulu team, so we have to be well-prepared and ready to fight.

“It’s a vitally important match for us to show our resilience and bounce-back-ability, which is something our players have always displayed.

“But as I say, we are well prepared for the match, and we know what strengths they have and what areas we can look to exploit from when we played them earlier in the season.

“It’s an important fixture in the block of fixtures we’re entering, and I’m trusting that we can take what we’ve learned, not just from our previous meeting but the last few games as well, on where we need to improve to get the result we need,” he concluded.