Gbenga Ogunbote, the Technical Adviser of Shooting Stars Sports Club (3SC) coach of Ibadan, says his team still need to work harder in spite of Sunday’s thumping home win.
Ogunbote told newsmen on Sunday in Ibadan after their 4-1 defeat of Niger Tornadoes Football Club of Minna that they still needed to address some recurring problems.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the Shooting Stars won in emphatic fashion the Match Day 7 fixture in the 2023/2024 Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL).
But the match at the Lekan Salami Stadium still highlighted the team’s recurring problem of conceding at least a goal, especially at home.
They have conceded in six of their seven matches so far in the league, keeping a clean sheet only against Akwa United in Uyo on Match Day 4.
The Shooting Stars had suffered a 0-2 loss to hosts Bendel Insurance of Benin on Match Day 2, and lost 0-3 to Remo Stars on Match Day 6 in Ikenne.
But they have conceded in all four matches played at home.
They won 2-1 against Plateau United on Match Day 1, 2-1 against Gombe United on Match Day 3, 3-1 against Doma United on Match Day 5 and 4-1 against Niger Tornadoes.
“We still need to work harder because a team that wants to make a statement in the league must ensure it does not concede goals anyhow, either in home or away matches,” Ogunbote said.
”We just have to stop conceding the way we have been doing, in order not to have cause to regret this in the long run in the competition,” he added.
The coach however pointed that the Match Day 7 victory against Niger Tornadoes on Sunday was a good comeback for the team after the 0-3 loss in Ikenne on Wednesday.
“The loss to Remo Stars was a slap on our faces and a disappointment to the fans.
“We needed to make it a very good outing against Niger Tornadoes so that the fans can forgive and forget easily.
“We needed to look for a way to make things up, and our win today was a good comeback for the team. It is always good when the players make up their minds to play.
“Our loss to Remo Stars brought out the best from the team today (Sunday) because we realised that we need to give our all and redeem our name,” he said.
Speaking also on their Match Day 7 game, Hamza Abara, the Niger Tornadoes Chief Coach, said his team got their calculations of the match wrong from the beginning of the match.
He said this led to their conceding an early goal.
“We studied Shooting Stars’ style of play and came up with a game plan, but the players failed to follow the plan,” the coach said.
Abara however stated that he and his technical crew colleagues were not going to put their players under pressure as a result of the outcome of this game.
“We are only going back home to adjust from where we made mistakes,” he said.
