Stellenbosch’s only hope of a top eight finish this season rests on winning their last three Betway Premiership matches, coach Gavin Hunt asserted after his side lost 2-0 at home to Orlando Pirates on Tuesday.
The defeat at the Athlone Stadium in Cape Town left the club languishing in 10th place, three points below eighth-placed Lamontville Golden Arrows, who play against AmaZulu on Wednesday.
“I think we need nine points,” said Hunt when asked whether Stellenbosch could still qualify for next season’s MTN8.
“I think we're going to have to win our last three games now. I thought we should have won last week (against Polokwane City) and I thought we could get a point against Pirates and then we could go from there, but now we're going to have to win three games.”
Stellenbosch, who have finished in the top six in the last four seasons, are next up against Durban City away on Friday, then host Orbit College next Saturday, 16 May, before finishing their season at Marumo Gallants in Bloemfontein on 23 May.
“Besides City, it's all teams at the bottom, so it's going to be tough because obviously they'll be fighting for their lives there,” Hunt added.
“I think 41 points could get us there into the top eight.”
Stellenbosch sit on 32 points from 27 matches after collecting only one point from their last three league outings. They were overwhelmed on Tuesday as Pirates kept up their title fight with victory.
“Obviously, we’re disappointed with the result. I thought we lost the fight, not the football match,” said the Stellenbosch coach.
“I thought we didn't handle their directness, and I thought they played off that. We needed to be better. We shouldn't be conceding from a standard situation, which we did.”