Despite steering his team to a four points lead on top of the Nigeria Professional Football League NPFL Group B table, Akwa United Head Coach Rafael Everton has dismissed permutations that his side has already secure one of the play-off places.
The Promise Keepers have recorded ten victories and four draws in their eighteen games played so far and they are top of the log with 34 points, four more than joint second placed teams El-Kanemi Warriors and FC Ifeanyi Ubah but Coach Everton believes that his team still has a lot of work to do to secure a play-off spot.
” We can’t start talking about qualification for play-off now because the season is not over yet. All the teams still have four matches to play and those matches will be very tough and difficult for all the teams. Remember, we are playing an abridged league format.
“We have two home games against Yobe Dersert Stars and Abia Warriors and both teams are in the relegation zone while our two away matches are against Delta Force and FC Ifeanyi Ubah, we have to understand that those teams also have their own target but we have to prosecute these matches successfully before we can start to talk about play-off spot.
“The outcome of our last four matches will determine where we will end on the log. So we need to have that believe and focus our attention on the remaining four matches. We are going to take it one match at a time starting from Sunday’s game against Yobe Dersert stars” Coach Everton told the club’s official website www.akwaunitedfc.net
The Promise Keepers, fresh from their away win in Omoku against Go Round will be aiming to do the double over Yobe Dersert Stars – a team they defeated in the first stanza of the league in Damaturu.
Victory on Sunday against Yobe Dersert stars – a team that is winless against Akwa United in their previous four matches – will take the Two-Time Federation Cup Champions much closer to securing one of the three playoffs spot in Group B.
Top striker Mfon Udoh who netted the decisive goal in Damaturu will be hoping to continue his fine form in front of goal as he target his tenth goal of the season.