Stellenbosch mentor Steve Barker has explained why they decided to come to Johannesburg for their preseason camp, also revealing he was pleased with how the new signings are gelling with the rest of the squad.

Stellies are training at Milpark's Sturrock Park during their Johannesburg stay to prepare for the next season. The Cape Winelands side lined up three friendlies against TS Galaxy, Siwelele FC and JDR Stars for sometime this week.

"We've decided to come up to Gauteng. Probably one of the main reasons is just good competition, varied competition and to get some good match sharpness and match fitness, which will be good to integrate the new players into the squad,'' Barker said.

"Obviously the weather has been a little bit wet down in Cape Town, so we also came to get sort of dry weather training and a little bit of some altitude training

"Our main focus will be the three friendlies we will be playing against Galaxy, JDR and Siwelele, so we want our players to get minutes under their belts. We're two weeks away from the MTN8 quarter-final match against AmaZulu."

Stellenbosch have already signed a few players such as Motsepe Foundation Championship (MFC) top-scorer of last season, Muzomuhle Khanyi, from Hungry Lions; Amajita defender Siviwe Nkwali from Cape Town Spurs; and Belgian defender Henri Stanic. They also promoted centre-back Simthandile Sishi, who skippered their DDC side last season.

"The new guys are fitting in really well, even the young players we promoted from the DDC. Obviously, we know them because they train often with us, so it hasn't been difficult for them to integrate,'' Barker said.

"Overall, I am happy with the players who've joined us from other clubs... They're settling in nicely, [and] they show energy and enthusiasm. I'm very pleased with the last three weeks that we've got back from the off-season."

The 22-year-old Stanic, an Anderlecht development product, also told why he joined Stellies, arriving from Maltese side Balzan. "The project at Stellenbosch is what attracted me to come to South Africa. I spoke to several people at the club, and I really like the project that is being worked on,'' he said.