Stellenbosch FC midfielder Genino Palace has been getting himself on the end of crosses more often.
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Genino Palace will be a marked man when Stellenbosch FC face off against Mamelodi Sundowns at Loftus Versveld on Wednesday evening.
Palace, 27, has been in a rich vein of goalscoring form of late, having found the net in three of Stellies’ last four matches.
The twice-capped Bafana Bafana international had only scored one goal in 94 appearances previously, but after some hard work with coach Gavin Hunt on the training ground, he has managed to get himself into the danger zone more often.
“Since coach Gavin Hunt came in, he’s wanted me to get forward more and get myself on the end of crosses,” Palace told stellenboschfc.com
“We’ve been working on that in training, and it’s something that has been coming through in games. It feels good to be scoring and ultimately to be able to help the team get positive results.”
Palace’s form has coincided with Stellies’ upward surge on the Betway Premiership table. After staring the relegation zone straight in the eye at the end of last year, the Men in Maroon have moved up to ninth on the table with the comfort of moving past 30 points - the dreaded number that has seen teams relegated in the past.
But the dreadlocked midfielder knows the hard work is not done yet, especially with Stellenbosch wanting to reclaim their place in the top eight in order to qualify for next season’s MTN8 competition. Stellies have reached the last two MTN8 finals where they have fallen short against Orlando Pirates on both occasions.
Although Stellies are riding high after their 3-1 victory over Sekhukhune United, it will be an altogether different challenge on Wednesday against a Sundowns outfit that will be filled with confidence after their progression to a second consecutive CAF Champions League final this past weekend.
“It was very important for us to get the win against Sekhukhune United last week, especially at this stage of the season. We’ve tried our best to get past that 30-point mark, and now that we’ve done that, we can look forward and push for a spot in the top eight,” Palace said.
“That was an important result for us in that regard, and it’s important now that we can keep the momentum going into the last few matches of the season. We’re still taking it one game at a time, but the ambition has to be to get into the top eight, and that’s what we’ll be pushing for.
“It’s important for us to continue with our momentum and not drop too many points.
“We have to take it game by game, starting again with Sundowns. The mood of the squad is good and Friday’s win has given us confidence heading into the game.
“We’ve just got to go out there, give our best, and try to come away with the points. We’ve got positive results against them in the past, and I don’t think it’s impossible for us to do the same this time. If we approach the game in the right way, there’s no reason we can’t get something out of it.”