•Chief Felix Anyansi-Agwu Photo: Sun News Publishing

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Enyimba boss, Chief Felix Anyansi-Agwu, has admitted that their tomorrow’s CAF Champions League group tie against TP Mazembe of Democratic Republic of Congo will be a tough game. He is, however, confident that the Aba People’s Elephant will grab the full points at the end of the day.

“It is going to be a very tough match because our opponents drew their last game at home in Congo. So, I expect they will came out very strong to play themselves back to reckoning,” Anyansi predicted in a telephone chat with Saturday Sunsport early in the week.

“We have to be very careful because every point matters a lot at this stage of the competition. We cannot afford to drop any point at home,” he said.

Enyimba, who lost their first fixture 3–2 in the money-spinning group stage of the tournament to El Hilal FC in Khartoum, Sudan, fought back to reckoning with an emphatic 2–0 victory over Coton Sport FC of Cameroon a fortnight ago in Aba.

Anyansi, however, cautioned that the race for a ticket to the semi-final was still dicey and therefore called for more commitment on the part of the players.
“I expect the players to show more commitment to qualify for the semi-final stage of the competition. The race in our group is still dicey, because there are no clear leaders yet. The results of this weekend’s fixtures can still change the table.

“The Congolese would want to come here and turn the table, but we will not allow them to do that. We shall throw everything in our arsenal to win and grab the full points to brighten our chances of qualification for the semi-final,” he added.
Although he expressed worry over the spate of injuries in the team, Anyansi ruled out any adverse effect arising from the absence of suspended captain, Ajibade Omolade, who abandoned the team in camp and went on trials abroad.

“We don’t build our team on individual players. So, Enyimba will carry on effectively without Omolade.
“As the captain of the team, he is expected to lead by example, but he chose to destroy the team by abandoning our camp for trials abroad when we have a crucial match in a big tournament. If other players behave like him, who will play the match against TP Mazembe?” Anyansi queried.
“I am only worried about the spate of injuries in the team. About six of our players are down with various degrees of injuries, but there is no cause for alarm because the other players are capable of rising to the challenge.”

As at the time of going to press, it was not clear whether the team’s Belgian technical adviser, Maurice Cooreman would be available for tomorrow’s encounter.

Cooreman, Saturday Sunsport had learnt, travelled to his home country to attend his daughter’s wedding and had yet to return as at Wednesday. Anyansi, however, expressed confidence that former Super Eagles’ Coach, Austin Eguavoen, who has been supervising their training at the Nnewi camp of the team would be equal to the task of ensuring victory against the Congolese tomorrow.
“Coach Eguavoen is equal to the task. With his wealth of experience as a former Super Eagles’ coach, I am confident that he will guide the team to victory against TP Mazembe and go ahead to win the trophy,” the Enyimba boss predicted.