Rangers International FC winger Kelvin Itoya says his team are determined to pay back Tunisian side Etoile Sportive du Sahel “in their own coin” when both teams meet again in the reverse fixture of their CAF Confederation Cup group B fixture this Sunday in Enugu.
Rangers suffered their first loss of this season’s continental cup campaign after nine matches in a 1-2 loss to Etoile du Sahel at the Olympic Stadium in Sousse on Sunday evening but both teams will clash exactly a week later at the Nnamdi Azikwe Stadium in Enugu in their fourth group game.
Itoya who came on in the second half of Sunday’s defeat told www.aclsports.com on Thursday that it will be a different ball game on Sunday.
“We are very confident of getting victory at home because it will be a different ball game,” the former Warri Wolves winger told www.aclsports.com
“We are determined to come all out to get the desired result against them and we want to pay them in their own coin,” added Itoya.
If anything, the bitterness of Sunday’s loss is expected to galvanise the Flying Antelopes to victory over the 2015 champions. Reflecting further on Sunday’s loss, Itoya admitted that defeat was hard to take for his side.
“It (the loss) was a bitter pill to swallow because we have played eight games unbeaten and losing in the hands of Etoile was a sad one because they weren’t a team we would have lost to on our normal day but we have to move on from that game and we look forward to facing them again this Sunday.”
Eleven out of Rangers’ fifteen goals in this season’s Confederation Cup have been scored by two players; Godwin Aguda and Bright Silas. Critics though in the minority believe there is an over-reliance on both players by coach Gbenga Ogunbote, especially Aguda who is the tournament’s leading scorer so far with six goals.
Itoya who has scored once for the team this term (away to Defence Force of Ethiopia in the preliminary round) does not agree with that school of thought and believes any of his teammates can do the business at any time.
“That’s not true! It is God’s doing that they are scoring goals for the team because they are fantastic players but when they are not there to play, other players take their position and will also do same if not better.”
Rangers’ clash with Etoile du Sahel will kick off at 2pm local time on Sunday at the Nnamdi Azikwe Stadium in Enugu. Both sides have four points apiece and are one point behind group B leaders CS Sfaxien who travel to Burkina Faso side Salitas on the same day.
