SKW coach Starke optimistic

SKW coach Richard Starke is upbeat about his team’s chances when they engage Friends in a basement battle in an MTC Namibia Premier League (NPL) match at the SKW Field tonight.

Starke also revealed his team was unaffected by their pending case in which they had six points deducted for using an unregistered player, Arend Von Stryk, in their opening matches of the season. “It’s quite important for us to beat Friends.I know we are going to do it.We have to win this game because we have to move up the table.We have been preparing hard for this match and my players are geared for this game.”My team is not under pressure at all because of the points deducted for using Von Stryk.That case is still pending and I am confident we will win it because we still have to tell our side of the story.The team is quite motivated,” said Starke.Von Stryk went to Scotland to attend trials with Scottish First Division club Dundee United after getting an international clearance from the Namibia Football Association (NFA) at the request of SKW.Von Stryk duly attended trials with Dundee United, but when he was not signed up, he returned to SKW for the start of the season.Von Stryk then played in SKW’s opening matches against Blue Waters and Eleven Arrows, which they won 3-2 and 3-0 respectively, but Blue Waters then lodged a complaint saying that he was not registered with SKW anymore.According to the NPL, SKW had to follow the same procedure by requesting an international clearance certificate from the Scottish Football Association (SFA) for Stryk to play for SKW, but the club failed to do so.SKW lie at the bottom of the table with three points from five matches while Friends are one place above them with four points from seven matches.Starke however, was devastated that Von Stryk will sit out the rest of the season because of a knee injury he sustained in a social match.”This is a big blow to us.We have lost our top marksman and it will be difficult to replace Arend.He is an experienced player and we badly needed his services this season.But we will have to fight on without him,” he said.Starke said he was happy with his team’s performance against Civics in which they held the champions to a 1-1 draw on Friday night.”My team played well against Civics.We should have won the match had our defence stood firm,” he explained.Friends go into the match against SKW smarting from heavy defeats, having lost 7-0 to Eleven Arrows and 8-1 to African Stars in their previous outings.Meanwhile, Blue Waters, Eleven Arrows and Friends all have games in hand as all have only played seven matches.SKW is the team that has played the fewest matches, with only five to its credit so far.Oshakati City and Golden Bees have lifted themselves up from the bottom-half of the table and they will be expected to maintain that consistency in their next matches.There will be no premiership matches this weekend, with the Hansa Pilsener Cup expected to take centre stage.www.namibiasport.co.na”It’s quite important for us to beat Friends.I know we are going to do it.We have to win this game because we have to move up the table.We have been preparing hard for this match and my players are geared for this game.”My team is not under pressure at all because of the points deducted for using Von Stryk.That case is still pending and I am confident we will win it because we still have to tell our side of the story.The team is quite motivated,” said Starke.Von Stryk went to Scotland to attend trials with Scottish First Division club Dundee United after getting an international clearance from the Namibia Football Association (NFA) at the request of SKW.Von Stryk duly attended trials with Dundee United, but when he was not signed up, he returned to SKW for the start of the season.Von Stryk then played in SKW’s opening matches against Blue Waters and Eleven Arrows, which they won 3-2 and 3-0 respectively, but Blue Waters then lodged a complaint saying that he was not registered with SKW anymore.According to the NPL, SKW had to follow the same procedure by requesting an international clearance certificate from the Scottish Football Association (SFA) for Stryk to play for SKW, but the club failed to do so.SKW lie at the bottom of the table with three points from five matches while Friends are one place above them with four points from seven matches.Starke however, was devastated that Von Stryk will sit out the rest of the season because of a knee injury he sustained in a social match.”This is a big blow to us.We have lost our top marksman and it will be difficult to replace Arend.He is an experienced player and we badly needed his services this season.But we will have to fight on without him,” he said.Starke said he was happy with his team’s performance against Civics in which they held the champions to a 1-1 draw on Friday night.”My team played well against Civics.We should have won the match had our defence stood firm,” he explained.Friends go into the match against SKW smarting from heavy defeats, having lost 7-0 to Eleven Arrows and 8-1 to African Stars in their previous outings.Meanwhile, Blue Waters, Eleven Arrows and Friends all have games in hand as all have only played seven matches.SKW is the team that has played the fewest matches, with only five to its credit so far.Oshakati City and Golden Bees have lifted themselves up from the bottom-half of the table and they will be expected to maintain that consistency in their next matches.There will be no premiership matches this weekend, with the Hansa Pilsener Cup expected to take centre stage.www.namibiasport.co.na