Akwa United coach, Abdu Maikaba, has admitted that the club’s opening fixtures of the 2016/2017 Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) season, will be difficult.
The Promise Keepers resumed preparations for the new campaign on Thursday and Maikaba explained why.
“If we allow the players to resume after the New Year, we will have very few days to prepare for our first game away to ABS of Ilorin. The plan is to ensure the players regain the fitness level they attained before the break. We will have at least ten days or more to prepare for the opening fixture and this is very important and key to our pre-season programme,” he told npfl.ng.
Maikaba, who just joined Akwa United from Wikki Tourists expressed his confidence that his new team will not struggle in the early weeks of the new season.
Akwa United face three of last season’s top-four clubs in champions Rangers, Rivers United and Wikki Tourists in their opening four games, before a tricky trip to newcomers Katsina United in late January.
“It is even better we have it at the beginning of the league. We have 35 players and they may need to rotate at some point. If the fixtures come deep into the season, it may be difficult to cope as injuries and cautions may come in. It is better that we get the fixtures early, but no matter how we look at it, it is going to be difficult, but we have a genuine plan to take care of the situation,” Maikaba explained.
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