Plateau United coach Fidelis Ilechukwu says he is not under any pressure to deliver silverware at the club, as the management didn’t set any target for him.

However, the former MFM gaffer, who joined the 2017 Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) champions from financially-troubled Heartland in August, disclosed his primary goal is to build a ‘strong team’ that will ‘do well’ domestically and challenge for trophies.

“Any coach going to any club or into any business will want to do  well,” he noted. “Right now, Plateau United is a new team (for me), and you know to build a team always takes time. I think I’m not also using that as an excuse, but I’m still working on how to build a team and make sure that I build a strong team.

“But looking forward, I’m also not going to take away the target of the team, which we set for ourselves, but we don’t want to be under pressure for any reason.

“The most important thing is to build a formidable team – a team that is going to be capable of winning trophies. That is what we’re trying to do.”

Asked whether the management of the Jos-based side handed him any target, Ilechukwu, who guided MFM FC to a second-place finish in the 2017 NPFL season said: “The team has not set any target for me, but we, the coaching crew, and also the players have set target for ourselves. And our target is to make sure that the team do well. That’s the most important thing.

“We don’t want to struggle this season. We are doing everything; working so hard, but in the process of doing that, if anything positive comes out of it, it is not bad. But we don’t want to be under pressure by saying that ‘we are going to win the NPFL title this season and also be in continental this season’.

“We just want to do our job and make sure we get the desired results. By doing that, any team can happen.”

Last season, Plateau United laboured to a ninth place finish in the NPFL under former head coach Abdu Maikaba.

The Peace Boys will tentatively open the new campaign against promoted Niger Tornadoes at the Ahmadu Bello stadium in Kaduna on 17 December.