Head coach of Sunshine Stars, Gbenga Ogunbote has boasted that his boys will be the team to beat when the new season of the Nigeria Premier League kicks off.

Ogunbote told Goal.com, on arrival from Cairo where they crashed out of the Caf Champions League on Sunday, that Nigerians should expect a much more compact team that will be a hard nut to crack for other big sides in the league.

In only its first campaign in the prestigious Champions League, the Akure Gunners matched their previous season’s debut in the Confederation Cup by reaching the last four.

“The season has just ended, everybody is expected to be on holiday after which we return to appraise our performance last season, and that will determine the next line of action. But I can assure you that next season we will bounce back bigger and better,” Ogunbote said.

Sunshine stars had a very hectic season which came to an end on Sunday after they lost 4-3 on aggregate against Egyptian giants Al Ahly. They will have to wait till another season to play on the continent as they finished fifth in the just concluded league season.