Enyimba FC head coach Yemi Olanrewaju has blamed his side’s disappointing Wednesday’s 1-1 draw against Bayelsa United on a psychological drawback that stemmed from their catastrophic outing at the Cathedral last Sunday.
The defending champions had the chance to go top of the league on Sunday if they had won the Oriental Derby, but players’ extreme protests and fans’ encroachment delayed the outcome of the match before the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) management eventually awarded the match’s three points to Rangers.
On Wednesday in Aba, Balogun Muyiwa put Enyimba ahead in the 20th-minute, but a 35th-minute equaliser from Bayelsa’s Ekeson Okorie ensured the People’s Elephants dropped points for the second time in a row, as they dropped to third on the log, four points behind leaders Rangers.
“I had to talk to the players because they felt very bad after they heard that the 3 goals and 3 points had been awarded to Rangers,” Olanrewaju reflected on the draw against Bayelsa.
“It really affected us. You could see that in the first half [against Bayelsa], they were slow and didn’t want to train yesterday morning. I had to motivate them and tell them that the season is not over and we have to keep fighting.
“You can see that we were very sloppy and if we had continued the way we played in the first half, we would have lost the game. Psychologically, the boys are down with what happened in Enugu,” he said.
Enyimba will be away to Sporting Lagos for their penultimate match of the season, and despite the Lagosians’ desperate fight to avoid relegation, Olanrewaju said Enyimba aims to get back to winning ways against the NPFL newbie.
“The only response we need now is to go to Lagos and get the maximum points. We might be the favourites for the league again but we have to keep fighting so everybody will be proud of us at the end,” he said.
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