By IME BASSEY and KATE OBODO
With their painful 3-1loss to visiting Sharks still fresh in their mind, the Team Manager of ABS, Alloy Chukwuemeka has said that psychological imbalance and of lack of fitness were responsible for the home loss

Chukuwemeka said he and the entire technical staff will look inwards to address the issues in order for the team to recover in time for today’s State FA Cup final against Kwara United at the Ilorin Township Stadium

“We were a victim of lack of fitness and psychological imbalance which our opponents capitalized on with their beautiful play throughout the duration of play.. It is a heavy defeat that has dragged us to the drawing board.

“We are hoping to get back to our winning ways against Kwara United. I believe that the boys will come out of this massive blow,” Chukwuemeka added.

Sharks’ Odinga refuses to celebrate

Sharks’ Captain Odinga Odinga is not celebrating his side’s 3-1 win over ABS in Ilorin as he believes that they need more of such results  to climb the NPL table.

Speaking to Inside Out Premier League after the team’s victory, the defender said they deserved the victory as he and his colleagues were bent on not leaving Ilorin without maximum points.

He noted that their wealth of experience proved to be too much for ABS to handle on the day.

“Where we are on the league table is not where we want to be this season, so we are not celebrating the win because it didn’t do much to our bid of moving up on the table. The quality of players in our squad helped us to beat ABS but we want more”, said Odinga.

On their today’s match against Enyimba in Port Harcourt, Odinga said “we are eying another victory We know the game will be difficult knowing the quality of their players but we are not intimidated as because we are equal to the task”.

Heartland didn’t sack Kriuf – Chukwu

Technical Consultant of Heartland, Christian Chukwu  has debunked reports that the team’s technical  adviser  Lodwjke De Kruif was sacked.

The Dutch coach last Monday travelled to his home country after his team’s 3-2 win over AC Leopard of Congo in a  CAF Confederation Cup first leg match in Owerri

The former Super Eagles coach however,  told Inside Out Premier League that the Dutch was not sacked but only  went to Holland to attend to some financially issues.

“it is true that De Kruif has left for Holland but that is not to say that he was sacked. He  went home to attend to some pressing  problems.

“He has also not resigned. I believe  after solving  the problems, he will come back to the club. For now, there is no technical adviser for them but they still have their chief coach. He got the club’s permission to travel home”, added Chukwu

Table

Pos    Team                           P       W       D      L       GF  GA    GD    Pts

1       Enugu Rangers            23      11      7       5       32   15      17      40

2       Enyimba                      23     11      5       7       23   14      9       38

3       Dolphins                      23     11      5       7       27   20      7       38

4       Kano Pillars                 23      10      6       7       26   17      9       36

5       Gombe United              23      10      5       8       28   26      2       35

6       Lobi Stars                    22      10      3       9       24   19      5       33

7       Akwa United                21      9        6       6       21   16      5       33

8       Sharks                         22      10      3       9       25   26      -1      33

9       Wikki Tourists              23      10      2       11      20   27      -7      32

10      Warri Wolves               22      7        9       6       20   17      3       30

11      Kaduna United            23      9        2       12      22   28      -6      29

12      3SC                             23      8        5       10      18   24      -6      29

13      Sunshine Stars             20      8        4       8       24   18      6       28

14      Heartland                    20      7        7       6       19   17      2       28

15      Kwara United               22      8        4       10      20   23      -3      28

16      ABS FC                       22      7        6       9       24   23      1       27

17      Jigawa Golden Stars    23      8        3       12      15   31      -16    27

18      Niger Tornadoes          22      7        4       11      17   25      -8      25

19      Ocean Boys                 21      6        7       8       14   24      -10    25

20      Rising Stars                 23      5        7       11      13   22      -9      22

NPL Week 24 Fixtures

Saturday 5th May, 2012

Rising Stars FC                       vs         3SC

Niger Tornadoes FC    vs         Gombe Utd FC

Sharks FC                                vs         Enyimba Int’l FC

Kano Pillars FC                        vs         Wikki Tourists FC

ABS FC                                   vs         Heartland FC

Sunday 6th May, 2012

Kaduna Utd FC                       vs         Rangers Int’l FC

Dolphins FC                 vs         Kwara Utd FC

Ocean Boys FC                       vs         Sunshine Stars FC

Jigawa Golden Stars FC vs       Akwa Utd FC

Lobi Stars FC              vs         Warri Wolves FC