El-Kanemi Warriors Coach, Aliyu Zubairu pointed to a lack of adequate pre-season matches as a factor that contributed to his team’s 1-1 draw against Dadje FC of Benin Republic.

On Saturday, August 17, El-Kanemi Warriors hosted Dadje FC in the first leg of the CAF Confederation Cup first-round encounter.

El-Kanemi Warriors needed a stoppage-time goal by Gimba Ajiji to salvage a point after Selasie Bakia had put the visitors in front during the first half of the encounter.

Zubairu mentioned that their plans for pre-season matches were disrupted due to the #EndBadGovernance protest, which led to a directive from the Governor to avoid risking the players’ safety by travelling out of the state.

As a result, the team couldn’t play any grade-A matches, and this lack of pre-season games showed in their performance.

“The time we were supposed to go for pre-season tournament was when the #EndBadGovernance protest broke out in the country and the Governor said we shouldn’t risk the life of any player by going out of the state,” Zubair told reporters after the game.

“By the time the protest ended, we couldn’t play any grade A match and certainly, the inability to play matches showed in our game negatively.”

The coach added: “You cannot start evaluating your team with a competition proper no matter how lowly-rated the tournament is. Pre-season is the best avenue but with this match, the second leg is going to be better.”

On the other hand, Dadje’s coach, Yaya Kone, expressed satisfaction with the result, highlighting that they had prepared for the match in a short time with limited players and achieved the outcome they aimed for.

He said, “It’s a good game because we prepared for this match even though for only seven days and we came with just 15 players. For me, I came here for a good result and that’s what we had. It’s very important we score and we can prepare well for the return leg.”

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