Two south-east Nigerian clubs, Rangers International of Enugu and Enyimba of Aba will both be at home this weekend in the CAF Confederation Cup, and they are equally desperate for victories to put their knock-out qualification ambitions back on track, megasportsarena.com reports.
Having lost two matches apiece already in their respective groups, Rangers and Enyimba cannot afford anything less than three maximum points in Enugu and Aba this weekend, which players on either side admit is not in dispute.
Leading the battle cry for either side during chats with Mega Sports on Star 101.5 FM, Lagos early Friday, Enyimba goalkeeper, Theophilus Afelokhai admitted The Flying Antelopes have no choice but to win in The City of Elephants, while Rangers’ striker, Ajani Ibrahim prayed that God will help his team carry the day at Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium in The Coal City.
While Enyimba have AC Paradou of Algeria to contend with, the hurdle for Rangers comes in the form of Nouadhibou FC of Mauritania, but Ajani and Afelokhai both believe their respective clubs have what it takes to put behind them their poor start to the group stage and eke out pints that will put them back into contention for tickets into the knock-out stage.
Afelokhai is thinking big for The People’s Elephant, who have failed to win any of their last five games in all competitions, culminating in the sack of their coach, Usman Abd’Allah but have now been boosted by the return of team captain, Andrew Abalogu, who missed those games, while reliable centre back Nelson Ogbonnaya has also returned.
All-action winger, Stanley Dimgba, who missed the last three matches, has also returned to full fitness and is expected to feature in Sunday’s game, but the vice captain, Ifeanyi Anaemena and another winger, Thomas Zenke, who returned to training this week, are both still ruled out.
Sunday’s game, scheduled for 2pm at Enyimba Stadium in Aba will be the first under the club’s new interim coach, Fatai Osho and the former Remo Stars of Ikenne gaffer has one of his early products, Victor Mbaoma to count on upfront for Enyimba, who are currently third on the Group D log, but victory on Sunday will take them up to second spot.
While Afelokhai believes his side will get back to winning ways in the upcoming encounter, Ajani is making a case for Rangers to also win on Sunday, as he says they will make the best of their duty in hosting Nouadhibou at The Cathedral in their third match of Group A.
Ajani declared: “We thank God that we were able to beat Ifeanyi Ubah during the week, now week have to continue the victory path. We pray that God will help us win again this weekend;” while Afelokhai declared: “Victory is the only thing we are thinking about. Nothing but victory.”
