Head coach of Nigerian league champions Rivers United, Stanley Eguma says his side are not banking on their past performances when they come up against Young Africans (Yanga) of Tanzania on Sunday.
Eguma’s United side will face Yanga in a CAF Confederation Cup first leg quarter final clash at the Nest of Champions in Uyo on Sunday with the return leg coming up a week later in Tanzania.
Rivers United edged Yanga 2-0 on aggregate when both sides last met in CAF competitions two years ago but the experienced Eguma knows that two years can be a long time in football.
“We will not rely on past performances because no two games are the same,” began Eguma to www.aclsports.com
“Yanga have refurbished their team and they’re doing well this season domestically and they topped their group in the last stage.
“We’re not looking at what we got from them last time. We’re coming with renewed vigour, we’re trying to push ourselves above our capacity more than what we did the last time.
“We are coming with a new mentality and a new approach to face a team that is also strong in the competition,” said the longest serving head coach in the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL).
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The Pride of Rivers sought to return to their home ground, the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium, Port Harcourt for this quarter final encounter but did not get a response from CAF after major repair works were carried out on the facility.
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Although he would have preferred a return home, Eguma believes his side can still achieve a good result over Yanga in Uyo.
“Actually I would have loved to play the game in Port Harcourt but Uyo has proved to be a veritable ground for us. I believe that we can achieve whatever we need in Uyo.
“We are focusing our mind back to Uyo. We have done well there so far and I believe that mentality and aura is with us. We know the importance of this stage of the competition and Nigerians are eager to see us achieve something from this competition. We will not let them down,” he added.
Sunday’s game will kick-off at 2pm local time with fast rising South African referee Abongile Tom at the centre of proceedings. Tom is among the twenty-five (25) centre referees that FIFA announced will officiate matches at the forthcoming FIFA U20 World Cup in Argentina.
