Rivers United captain Stephen Manyo has spoken about his side’s readiness to compete in the 2026/27 football season, www.aclsports.com reports.
The Pride of Rivers opened their account this season with a comfortable win over Plateau United on the opening weekend of the NPFL season, and will now turn attention to the continent, where they have a date with San Pedro of Cote d’Ivoire in the CAF Champions League in the first leg of the first round of the preliminary stages.
”We are prepared for the season,” Manyo told Rivers United media on their way to San Pedro for the game.
”This is the seventh week since resumption, and you can see from our first game that we are ready for what is to come. I think we are ready to compete, and we will compete well,” the defender concluded.
Speaking about the game in San Pedro, Manyo feels the game is important, and that they are equally prepared for the task ahead in order to put themselves in a vantage position before the second leg next weekend.
”This game is really important to us. It is like a final, and having a good result in San Pedro will give us an edge coming back home to play. We are going to San Pedro to compete, and I believe we will get a good result so that the job will be easier for us in the return leg at home,” Manyo said.
On the motivation of the side, Manyo responded, ”I think the players are motivated, and after the first win against Plateau United, we were given a cash reward as promised. Getting a good result in San Pedro will bring more money to the boys. We know that the management is ready to support. As a person, you also have to motivate yourself. I believe this is a platform to showcase ourselves to the world.
San Pedro, who finished as runners-up in the Ivorian topflight like Rivers United last term, will host the first leg on Saturday, and the game has been scheduled to kick off by 5pm (Nigerian time).
