Abia Warriors coach Willy Udube says his side are “still a work in progress in Jesus name” following their last-gasp win against bottom side Adamawa United on Sunday.
Warriors left it late to beat the worst team in the 2019/2020 Nigeria Professional Football League with Fatai Abdullahi converting a 95th-minute penalty – Warriors’ first success from eight yards in five attempts this season – to secure the win.
John-Paul Chinedu gave the table proppers a shock lead on the stroke of half time but Yakub Hammed equalised for the hosts a minute after the restart in the matchday 24 encounter in Umuahia.
A lengthy delay following an injury to Warriors’ goalkeeper Victor Philemon meant there were 10 minutes of added time and after Paul Samson was ruled to have been upended inside the box, Abdullahi held his nerve to convert the resultant spot-kick in the 95th-minute.
A relieved Udube, appointed in place of Cameroonian Emmanuel Deutsch who left amid a dispute over pay, said his side made the game difficult for themselves as they could have wrapped up victory in the first half.
“We were supposed to have won this match in the first twenty to thirty minutes, but it dragged on to the second half. But we’ve gotten the three points so we’re happy,” he said.
On the evidence of his side’s showing against the NPFL’s bottom side, the former Go Round coach admitted a lot of work is still needed to make his side the complete article.
Udube invoked the name of Jesus while describing his team as a work in progress.
“There are a lot of corrections we need to do. We need to shoot, we need to calm down when we get to the 18-yard box, because as an attacker, when you are inside the 18-yard box, the defenders are afraid of you, so there are a lot of other things.
“And also, giving a pullout, you must do it with precision, you must pick a target. There are a lot of things we are going to do and like I said before, it is a work in progress in Jesus name.”
Udube’s side currently sit in 13th-position with 30 points after 24 games.
