Sporting Lagos Coach Paul Offor Bemoans Tight Schedule in Quest for Naija Super 8 Final Spot

Sporting Lagos Coach Paul Offor Bemoans Tight Schedule in Quest for Naija Super 8 Final Spot 

 By Gbenga Gboyega

Lagos-based Sporting Lagos' head coach - Paul Offor has cried out about the ripple effects of playing consecutive games on his players as his team features thrice in the space of seven days, bsnsports.com.ng reports.

The Naija Super 8 tournament started at the Onikan Stadium barely a week prior to this report, with fan-selected teams jostling for pre-season success at the Mobolaji Johnson Stadium, Onikan, Lagos.

Since the 8th of July, Sporting Lagos Football Club amongst others have played a minimum of three games each with the newly promoted Nigeria Premier League side set to face off against fellow wild card entrants - Akwa United in the semis, today (Friday) by 4:30 pm.

While speaking in his pre-match press conference towards the "clash of wild cards" game, Coach Paul Offor bemoaned the stress suffered by his players following the tight schedule.

"I’ll be honest, the players are tired. You could see that yesterday. We struggled in the second half. But we had ice baths and we’re checking on some of the fatigued players to see if they’re available to play today."

Sporting Lagos gained promotion to the 2023-24 NPL season after featuring in 13 games in the Nigeria National League last season, with 10 of those coming in the regular round, while the remaining 3 came in the promotional play-offs.

The number of games is telling on the players' fitness as Paul also expressed concerns about his squad's match fitness level going into the semifinal clash against Akwa United.

"Ekene is back in the squad after the Super 8 and has had one training session with us, but that’s usually not enough to get back to match fitness. 

"We hope he can start on the bench. But as always, we’ll dig deep and give a performance that will make the fans proud, and we’ll do our best to qualify for the final," he added.

Paul Offor also promised to give the fans at the stadium and global viewers a good showing, as he sets his sights on pre-season glory before the start of the new domestic league campaign.

"They (Akwa United) have a top-notch coach whom I admire and respect a lot and they have really good players like Fernando, Olisema, and Dare. 

"They also have an experienced team, so we know what we’re coming up against, and all we want to do in this competition is to give the fans a good showing and fight for a place in the final.