Edith Agoye will be bidding to make a good start to his reign as Sunshine Stars gaffer when the Owena Whales take on newly promoted side, Doma United at the Pantami Stadium, Gombe on match day one of the 2022/23 NPFL season.
The Owena Whales are keen to get off to a flyer and definitely fancy their chances going into the game on Sunday, however Agoye is not getting carried away by the gulf between his side and the Savannah Tigers in terms of class and pedigree.
“Sunshine Stars is one of the biggest football clubs in Nigeria as we all know, but It won’t be an easy game against Doma United; Doma is a team that just got promoted to the premier league, so they will be well motivated. But we are here for a purpose; we will be very competitive tomorrow and fight for every thing in order to get the the three maximum points.” The former Shooting Stars handler said, during a pre-match session with Sunshine Stars Media at the Pantami.
Sunshine Stars were largely decimated in the off season with the departure of key players such as hitman, Leonard Ugochukwu, Anthony Anioke, Ikenna Cooper, Chigozie Chilekwu, Onyeka Nwaiwu, Japhet Opubo, nevertheless, Agoye is upbeat that the effort at revamping the side will yield in the new campaign.
“It’s very clear that major players left at the end of last season, but we have been able to do a very good job in bringing in new players and the time we were afforded we have put it to a very good use and we are confident that we have a team on ground now that can compete and get results for Sunshine Stars”
Indeed, the Akure landlords have had quite a busy transfer window with the acquisition of some exciting talents, while some core players from last season such as Temitope Vincent, Mustapha Lawal, Azeez Ajagbe, Michael Olalusi, Ejike Uzoechi, Mutiu Dauda, Sunday Abe, Jide Jimoh, Samson Olasupo, David Ariyo, Promise Awosanmi, Kehinde Adeyemi and Habib Yakub are still very much in the fold.
The opening round is coming too early for Ajagbe, Dauda, Olasupo and Abe who are all battling health or fitness issues at the moment, though a few others still need some more time to impress the new boss.
Given the fitness issues with some of the old guards, the match day one rooster is dominated by the new boys with 14 of them called up for the trip to the Northeast. They are:
Goalkeeper:
Joseph Okonkwo joined from Ijebu United
Defenders:
Ekerete Udom joined from Dakkada
Dennis Iwuoha joined from Apex Krane
Imo Ikemdinachi joined from Apex Krane
Seun Olulayo joined from Rangers
Emmanuel Ogbuagu joined from Dakkada
Andrew Abalogu joined from Heartland
Midfielders:
Achi Nnaemeka joined from Apex Krane
Joshua Akhabue joined from Lobi Stars
Muritala Lawal joined from Dakkada
Mafeng Pam joined from Plateau United
Attackers:
Stephen Chukwude joined from Akwa United
Ibrahim Yusuf joined from Remo Stars
Abdulrahman Bashiru joined from ABS
The Club will look to announce other new players and unveil them all together in time for the first home game of the season against Rivers United on Wednesday.
