Akwa United coach, Ayodeji Ayeni , has blamed his players anxiousness to score for their 2-0 home loss to Bendel Insurance in the first game of the 2022-23 Nigeria Premier Football League game in Uyo.
Ayeni who regretted his players shambolic display in the first half of the league encounter, praised their second half display.
“Football is very dynamic. You may see what you do not bargain for some time but we were too relaxed in the first half and naive in the front of goal. The boys were too anxious to get things done. It is quite unfortunate that the two goals were from mistakes that we caused,” Ayeni told journalists.
“It was the first game with a lot of expectations here and there. We had our bad day today while Insurance got it right. I believe the league is still a marathon and anything can still happen. I will not because of that lose hope on the boys. We will go back to work on our mistakes.
“The second half was better. We played the way we ought to but we were unlucky. I believe we will bounce back in a bigger way.”
The former Ekiti United and Sunshine Stars boss called the defeat a wakeup call and he challenged his boys to do the same in their next away game with Enyimba.
“First and home game loss is a wake-up call. We were better in the second half but the damage was already done in the first half. No team is invincible,” Ayeni added.
“We only need to psych the players up to be able to recover from the shock and face future challenges well”.