Nigeria Professional Football League Champions Plateau United have been handed a timely boost ahead of this weekend’s CAF Confederation Cup playoff round encounter with Algerian side USM Alger.
United came short in the Champions League, losing 3-4 on aggregate to Tunisian side Etoile du Sahel and will now face the highly rated Algerians for a spot in the group stage of Africa’s second tier competition.
Kennedy Boboye’s side have however been boosted by the return of key trio Raphael Ayagwa, Elijah Ogene and Okiemute Odah ahead of Saturday’s first leg encounter with USMA.
Midfielder Ayagwa who has scored in every round of United’s continental campaign this season returned to training last weekend after missing the decisive second leg match against Etoile in Kano.
Defender Ogene also missed the Kano decider through injury, though was listed as a substitute; but returned to full training on Monday morning alongside goalkeeper Okiemute Odah.
“It was very painful to miss the Etoile game because we always like to help the team,” Ogene told www.aclsports.com after Tuesday’s training session.
“It feels good to be back and we believe we can help the team because we’ve been back fully in training and with what we did in training today, I believe we can help the team,” added Ogene.
The team have stepped up preparations ahead of Saturday’s game scheduled for the Agege Stadium in Lagos with training sessions at the New Zaria Road Stadium in Jos.
The team will fly directly into Lagos from Jos on Thursday morning ahead of Saturday’s game.
