Hearts of Oak manager Frank Elliott Nuttall has insisted their game against Ashanti Gold on Wednesday at the Accra Sports Stadium will be a difficult one following the visitors’ current performance in the Ghana Premier League.
Although, Hearts won in Obuasi during the first leg and have been able to pick three successive victories after their 5-0 thrashing by Wafa, Ashanti Gold are without a defeat in their last four games and have moved out of the relegation zone for the first time this season after their 3-0 victory over Inter Allies on Sunday.
"The game will definitely be difficult for us but it is good opponent that bring the best out of your players," Nuttall said.
"We picked victory in Obuasi and that means they can also win here especially with their recent performance but we are prepared not to allow that to happen. We want to challenge for the league trophy and cannot afford to drop points at home. We must win this game to continue the chase," he added.
Hearts striker Kwame Kizito has been in fascinating form recently after scoring five goals in ten games but Nuttall insists he must work hard to maintain his place in the team.
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"Kizito knows he has to work in every game to stay in the team and that is the same for every other player,” he said.
“They all know that they have to try to stick to the game plan and work very hard so Kizito has scored like six goals so far and so he is doing okay. But there is competition for places because Cosmos [Dauda] is there. We have Alex [Kouami] there and we have got [Bright] Lukman there as well so there is competition and they all need to be working very hard to make sure they stay in the starting XI,” he added.
Since 1993, Hearts have met Ashanti Gold 43 times and the Phobians have picked 19 wins while the visitors have been able to win on 13 times while 11 games have ended in a stalemate.
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