Technical Adviser of FC IfeanyiUbah Yaw Preko has said he is far from impressed with the performance of his side in their 3-0 thrashing of Abubaker Bukola Saraki (ABS) FC in their first leg quarter-final of the 2017 Aiteo Cup on Wednesday.
Former Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) hotshot Godwin Obaje grabbed a brace to help the defending champions dismantle visiting ABS at their Nnewi fortress, to take a bold step towards advancing to the semi final.
Both teams are scheduled to meet in Ilorin on Saturday in the reverse fixture, with aggregate winners progressing to the last four.
In an exclusive chat with www.busybuddiesng.com, the former Black Stars of Ghana striker said his team will have to work ‘extremely harder’ in order to advance to the semi finals at the expense of the Henry Makinwa-tutored side.
“Three goals came but it wasn’t that convincing,” Preko said. “The goals came but the performance wasn’t all that good.
“If we (FC IfeanyiUbah) want to go through, we need to work very hard in the away match because it is not going to be easy.
“They (ABS) had a couple of chances to hurt us but I think we took our chances. In the first half, they had two clear chances. Before we scored our first goal, they were really in the game.
“We need to work very hard in the return match and we’ll see how it goes.”
Ahead of the second leg quarter final tie in Ilorin, the former Everton forward remains optimistic that the Cup Holders will eliminate the relegated NPFL side from the competition while reiterating that it won’t come on a platter of gold.
“I’m very confident, I’m very confident,” he repeated, when asked about his team’s chances of picking a semi final ticket.
“We have to work extremely harder; it’s not going to be easy like I said earlier on. But we need to work very well and be compact, and very disciplined because ABS are a good side.
“But we will eliminate them but it’s not going to be easy,” he stated.
Apart from pocketing a whooping N25m prize-money, winners of the Aiteo Cup this year will also represent Nigeria in next season’s CAF Confederation Cup.
