Tope Olusesi, Captain, Rangers International FC of Enugu, has said that the players were regretting their absence from the ongoing Confederation of African Football (CAF) league.
“It has been a painful experience not to be participating in the ongoing continental competition,” Olusesi told journalists in Enugu on Thursday, saying that the club needed to brace up and focus on the forthcoming Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL).
“We know that our failure to get a continental ticket was that we did not start the league on a good note and that is what we are trying to avoid this time around.
“I cannot say it is my target, but the club’s target is to give the fans something to cheer about in the beginning and end of the forthcoming season,” he said.
The Rangers captain said the delay in the starting the league may affect the performance of the players, but with focus and determination that they can get back to winning ways again, adding, “I think that our priority as a club is to take the league by storm whenever it starts.”
Olusesi hailed the club’s management for retaining 80 per cent of its players, saying that this will accord the club the chance to start the new league well.
“All the teams in the league are good, but I believe that the technical crew knows what they want and they will feature the best in every match as we are not going to under rate any club.
“Rangers will be a team to beat in the forthcoming season as the old players are blending well with the new ones, ” Olusesi said.
The Rangers captain said that the absence of fans at match venues would only have affected them if it had come suddenly, without notice, but “right now, we players are aware that fans will not be coming into the stadium and we are working towards playing without them”.
“Though, fans motivate teams to win, even in precarious situations, but we can do ourselves a lot of good by motivating ourselves in the absence of the fans, ” Olusesi said.
(NAN)
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