Siasia refuses to blame his players after loss to Tunisia

Samson Siasia has insisted his players should not be blamed, after they lost 5-3 to their Tunisian counterpart in a friendly match.

Junior Ajayi scored twice for the Nigerian U-23 side, but it was not enough to save them from a heavy defeat at the El Menzah Stadium.

“I don’t want to blame the players too much for the loss to the Tunisians in the first match on Saturday,” Siasia said in a statement released by the Nigeria Football Federation.

“Without appearing to be making excuses for them, we arrived in Tunis on Friday afternoon and immediately went to training but the weather did not help matters.

“Most of them were traveling outside the country for the first time and you can’t wish that away.”

The former Super Eagles boss also said the weather was not favourable, but thanked the NFF for helping to arrange the game.

“Weather was really a factor. However, in the first match, my assistants and I noticed a number of areas we need to improve on seriously before we can say we have a team,” he added.

“We thank the NFA for organising these matches because they will really help us prepare for the qualifiers against Gabon, and other matches in the race to the All-Africa Games and the 2016 Olympics.”

#Siasia