Crotone of Italy striker, Simeon Tochukwu Nwankwo (Simy) says he is determined to put in his best efforts this weekend, in order to help his side snatch victory against Chievo Verona in their first match of the restart in the Italian lower division, Serie B, megasportsarena.com reports.
The Pythagoreans are seeking a return to the top-flight Serie A, following their relegation two seasons back, and ‘Simy’ believes they have what it takes to pull off the feat, based on the form they have displayed so far this term, but he admits they must not take The Flying Donkeys for granted, even as he believes his team are the better of both squads.
With Crotone looking good on the table, all odds are pointing in the direction of promotion for them, and ‘Simy’ admits that he already has his mind fixed on returning to playing in the Serie A next term, but acknowledged that he and his colleagues must keep their feet on the pedal, as Serie B action returns after three months of suspension because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Heading into Saturday’s game against the team that once had Victor Obinna Nsofor and Stephen Ayodele Makinwa on their cards, Crotone’s hope of making it back to the Serie A after two years rest largely on Simy, as he is the club’s top scorer this season and the league’s third-highest, with 13 goals, four behind Perugia’s Pietro Lemmello and one short of Trapani’s Stefano Pettinari.
The former Super Eagles’ player, who was part of Nigeria’s squad to Russia 2018 World Cup, admitted that he and his teammates have a tough task ahead of them this weekend, as there would be some fitness issues and blending difficulties to contend with, after months of away from action due to the COVID-19 lockdown.
He, however, declared that everyone at Crotone knows they must carry the same momentum they had before the forced break, when they won five games on the bounce, even as he aims at high marks personally when they tackle Chievo at Stadio Ezio Scida on Saturday evening, ahead of which The Pythagoreans occupy second spot, 20 points behind Benevento after 28 games.
The tall attacker, who played in Portugal before joining Crotone, is happy that his team are in an automatic promotion spot, but noted that they still have to be at their best in all their remaining matches of the campaign, in order to keep off pressure from the chasing pack of Chivo, Spezia, Frosinone, Pordenone, Cittadella and Salernitana, who are all also within the promotion spots.
Simy told his club’s website: “We must face Chievo as we did against the others, trying to give our best. The pandemic has forced everyone to adapt to a somewhat anomalous situation, we must not complain but only think of giving the best on the field and doing what we know how to do, that is playing football.
“We must immediately try to give continuity to the results as we were doing before, we know that it will not be easy but we will arrive prepared. We all start from scratch, it is not a normal situation but we must try to get to the race in the best way.
“I only have a fixed thought in my mind, that of arriving in Serie A with Crotone. Everything else is not important to me. Very little is missing, it seems a bit strange but we are professionals and we must do our job.”
