Enyimba’s head coach, Fatai Osho, has expressed faith in his team’s qualification in today’s CAF Champions League first round second leg encounter against the Sudanese Al-Merreikh at the Enyimba International Stadium in Aba.
The Peoples Elephants have a herculean task to upturn the 0-3 deficit suffered a fortnight ago at the Al-Merrikh Stadium Omdurman, Khartoum State in Sudan.
Speaking on the match against Al-Merreikh, which arrived on Sunday for the epic clash today, Coach Osho said that his players have resolved not to let the club and country down, adding that the error committed in Sudan will not be repeated in Aba.
“The result in Sudan was not the best for us, but we can’t completely lay a blanket statement on that performance. And in terms of performance, they did very well, but for a lot of errors that caused those goals.
“So, we are looking at where they got it wrong, we’re highlighting this and where they did well, we also pick courage from there. This is the same team that we were able to exercise dominance to some extent and it shows they are not invincible,” adding that the players are mentally fit for the duel.
“We have been talking to the players to make sure they are psychologically ready for the battle on Wednesday (today). We are able to see a little bit of response from the players at training sessions and what we are seeing is quite encouraging.
“In training, you can see a group of players who believe they have to do something good for the team and for the image of the country. The assurance that the players are ready to qualify ahead of the Sudanese comes from the players’ mindset. Their attitude at training; they are talking to themselves and to us through their performance at training sessions.
“The players don’t look like people, who are going into the match to just drop the ticket for Al-Merreikh. No way, it’s quite far from that. You can see the players fighting in training and they believe they can actually turn the table against the Sudanese come tomorrow (today) and that is quite encouraging.
“And since that motivation is coming from them, then I think it is good for the team and it makes our own job easier. We’re looking at the areas we have to tighten up, those areas the Sudanese are vulnerable.
“We have been looking at the tapes and other tapes and also that will really be of assistance to us. These things we have explained to the players and tactical instructions are being carried out very well in a way that will make result come,” he stated.
