The assistant coach at Remo Stars FC of Ikenne, Sulaiman Folarin has labelled his side’s next fixture in the Nigerian Professional Football League (NPFL) as ‘a must win match.’
Sports247 reports that, although Honourable Kunle Soname’s side will be away to Lobi Stars of Makurdi in the upcoming encounter, Folarin stressed that his team must snatch maximum points from the game in the Benue State capital because their nearest rivals for the NPFL title, Rivers United of Port Harcourt won away this past weekend.
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Folarin admitted that his side’s 2-0 victory over visiting Heartland of Owerri on the same day was heartwarming, but he also acknowledged that the pressure being mounted by Rivers United cannot be overlooked.
The assistant gaffer, who took charge of the table-topping Ikenne-based squad in the absence of their head coach, Daniel Ogunmodede, who is again away on national duty with the Super Eagles in Rwanda, expressed delight with how his side were able to score early against The Naze Millionaires, which he admitted made their win easier to achieve.
Folarin added, “It wasn’t a bad game for us; though we didn’t start well in the first ten minutes. Later in the game, the boys tried to pick themselves up; and then they were able to get into the game. We scored our first goal in the first half and then got another in the second half to seal it up.
“It was a good game for us. It’s more enjoyable to win with early goals instead of waiting until the dying minutes, as we did in our previous matches.”
Folarin then spoke about the pre-match factors and technical gameplan that helped his side enjoy a smooth ride over former Super Eagles’ winger, Emmanuel Amuneke’s team from Owerri, even in the absence of Ogunmodede.
He disclosed excitedly, “The reason behind this is that we talked to ourselves, and we admitted that we struggled to win the last three games; like waiting till the tail end of each match to score the winning goal. We said to ourselves that, this time, we wanted to score in the first half to make it easy for us, and I am happy that we did it.”
He then revealed that the players, coaches and officials have already started preparing for the ‘win at all cost’ match away to Lobi Stars, hence his decision to change their goalkeeper during the second half of last weekend’s game in Ikenne, as their first choice shot-stopper, Kayode Bankole will be in the Super Eagles’ when the clash with Lobi Stars takes place.
“We don’t want the young goalkeeper to get his Premier League debut in the match away to Lobi Stars. That’s why we gave him a feel of some minutes as a substitute versus Heartland. We know what is at stake for us.
“Rivers United got an away win. This means we also have to go for an away victory in our next match. We are going to work towards that as a target, and I believe we can get it. It is very, very possible,” Folarin affirmed.
