Kwara United coach, Bala Abubakar, says his team face a ‘difficult’ match when they take on fellow league side, Rivers United, in their second game at the Aiteo Cup round of 16.
Kwara United battle the Pride of Rivers in a group C game scheduled for Wednesday at the Agege stadium in Lagos.
Speaking to aclsports.com moments after their victory over Abia Warriors on Monday, the tactician says while he expects a very tough game against the Port Harcourt based side, he remains optimistic of picking maximum points.
“We have watched the Rivers United team, also watched (studied) their strength and weakness(es),” he said. “We are going to plan against tomorrow’s match.
“It is going to be a very difficult match, but we believe we can pick all three points.”
The Harmony Warriors kicked off their Group C journey in blistering fashion, putting five goals past nine-man Abia Warriors.
Segun Alebiosu scored a hattrick, including a superb free kick, with further strikes from Wakili Musa and Samsudeen Ashimu to earn Bala’s men a comfortable 5-1 win over the hapless Abia Warriors side, who had their goalkeeper and star forward, Ndifreke Effiong, sent off.
Manager, Abubakar, expressed satisfaction with the performance of his Warriors against the Umuahia side.
“(I am) very satisfied,” he added. “Our plan in the game was to keep the ball well, create a lot of chances and we should be able to utilise the chances (too) and you can see that we were able to achieve that and i am satisfied.”
After their emphatic win, the Kwara boss is hoping to go one step better than he did with his former side, Niger Tornadoes.
The Ikon Allah Boys were beaten in the 2017 Aiteo Cup final by Akwa Ibom based side, Akwa United, and Bala wants to do better that outing with his current side.
“The target in this cup is to surpass the personal target I had (at Tornadoes)- getting into the final. We are working very hard to see how we can surpass that target.”
Kwara United’s game against Rivers United comes up on Wednesday, with Kano Pillars taking on Abia Warriors in the other group tie.
Kwara currently lead group c on three points, same as Kano Pillars, but the Harmony Warriors have a superior goal difference.
