The coach of Ikorodu City FC of Lagos, Bright Ozegbegbe was full of lamentation after his side lost their first match in the Nigerian Professional Football League (NPFL) 3-0 away to Kano Pillars.
Sports247.ng reports that not only did the coach scold his players for committing sloppy errors against the former champions, he admitted that Sai Masu Gida taught his players many lessons about the top-flight league.
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“This is the NPFL,” Ozegbagbe acknowledged, “It was something for us to see and for us to be proud of, but we could not get the result we wanted.
“The performance was key for us, but we lost concentration. Going back, this is an area we have to work on.”
Coach Bright further analysed the frailties of his side in their first ever NPFL match and acceeded that they saw a lot of lapses that they need to work on.
Ozegbagbe added, “We allowed an error to happen when the boys switched off, and the first goal came. The opponents then took all their chances.
“When you play a team like Kano Pillars, you cannot afford to allow a sloppy goal in; otherwise you give them the advantage to play.”
He concluded by looking ahead to their next match, away to Kwara United of Ilorin, and admitted that his players will have to work harder in order to get a better result.
Ozegbagbe, though, still picked positives from the game in Kano and reckoned that Ikorodu City should get a better result in Ilorin if they work on all lessons learnt in The City Of Groundnut Pyramids.
“All the same, the boys did show some level of resilience. “They tried to come out and dictate the play, but errors kept coming. For our next game, we are going away again, this time to face Kwara.
We’ve learnt a lot of lessons, and we are going to correct those areas going forward. Hopefully, the next game will be better,” the humble gaffer stated with optimism.
Ozegbagbe and his players will also need to pray for better luck, as they have been saddled with two straight away fixtures in their first couple of NPFL matches.
