El-Kanemi coach blames Dadje draw on poor pre-season

El-Kanemi Warriors coach Aliyu Zubairu has attributed his team’s 1-1 draw against Dadje FC of Benin Republic in their first leg, first round CAF Confederation Cup encounter, to a lack of adequate pre-season matches, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.

The President Federation Cup champions were held at home on their adopted ground, the Remo Stars Stadium in Ikenne, on Saturday, as they needed a stoppage-time goal by Gimba Ajiji to salvage the result.

Selasie Bakia had put the visitors in front during the first half of the encounter, capitalising on the clumsiness of their hosts.

El-Kanemi did have chances to get back into the game, but they were also wasteful in front of goal before Ajiji’s equaliser, which was also the last kick of the game ended things 1-1 ahead of the return leg on Saturday.

“The time we were supposed to go for pre-season tournament was when the #EndBadGovernance protest broke out in the country and the Governor said we shouldn’t risk the life of any player by going out of the state,” Zubair said after the game on Saturday.

“By the time the protest ended, we couldn’t play any grade A match and certainly, the inability to play matches showed in our game negatively.”

Since winning the President Federation Cup in June, the newly promoted Nigeria Premier Football League side have quietly gone ahead with their business of preparation and recruitment in Maiduguri.

Despite admitting their shortcomings, the coach believes they can turn the game around in the second leg on Saturday.

“You cannot start evaluating your team with a competition proper no matter how lowly-rated the tournament is. Pre-season is the best avenue but with this match, the second leg is going to be better,” he said.

His Dadje counterpart, Yaya Kone, is already buoyed by the first leg result.

“It’s a good game because we prepared for this match even though for only seven days and we came with just 15 players. For me, I came here for a good result and that’s what we had. It’s very important we score and we can prepare well for the return leg.”