Enugu Rangers head coach, Gbenga Ogunbote has saluted his players for overcoming the challenges they had prior to the game to still beat Defence Force of Ethiopia 2-0 in the first leg of the preliminary round of the Caf Confederation Cup on Wednesday in Enugu.
The Flying Antelopes’ preparations for the second tier Africa’s club competition started late with the competition that qualified them for the continent only ending barely a month ago in Asaba, Delta State while they began the build-up to the preliminary round barely two weeks ago.
Ogunbote stressed that they could have performed better than they did against Defence Force had they had sufficient preparations but he praised them for braving the odds to secure a good result in the first leg of the encounter.
The former Sunshine Stars and Enyimba coach, however, exuded an optimism that the Flying Antelopes will get better as the competition progresses.
“I think it was a good game and I will say that 2-0 is better than 1-0. The important thing is that we have not allowed them to score,” Ogunbote told media.
Next Match
“We should not forget that we had challenges ahead of this game. I want to commend the team. We might have started poorly because we could have wrapped up the game in the first half with the opportunities we had. We are happy we have two goals in our kitty.
“I have a way of handling my team and I will use a player when I know that it is best fit or suitable for him. We need the advantage and it is an advantage to us that Kelvin Itoya will have to come on in the second half so be it. There are games they have played from the start and we still won. We will make a decision base on the matter at hand at that point in time.
“I need to commend my players because we need to realize that this team resumed barely two weeks ago and we didn’t have enough time to prepare for this game. I want to believe that the team will improve as the game goes. We also had problems with our registration of players. We just have to manage with what we have.”
