COACH Abubakar Bala of Niger Tornadoes says that the slow reactions of his players led to his side lone goal defeat at the Umuahia Township Stadium, Wednesday.
Godwin Zaki’s 16th minute penalty rebound that was punched away by Niger Tornadoes save hands Mustapha Aliko went towards the path of Anthony Okemmiri who reacted quickly to give Abia Warriors the most wanted win as he scored on Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) match day 11.
Coach Bala said that if his wards had reacted quickly to the rebound they might have a better part of the ball, and the goal could have been avoided.
The coach said that he is going back to work on his side reaction to second balls even though he praised them for their resilience throughout the game and for adhering to instructions.
He further said that there was no cause for alarm for the inability of his strikers not to score in recent matches, saying that he was building a team that will all players as free scoring ones.
“I don’t want to build my team around a selected striker or players, I want a team that every player can score even the defenders”, he said.
The coach added that he wants to build a team that will stay together for three years if he is given the opportunity.
He said that the team has been improving with each game, promising that if this team can stay for some years together then their quality would not be hidden.
According to him, his former boss, Abdullahi Usman Biffo has a quality side but said that they were not playing as unit.
He said that his boss who recently took charge of the team following the resignation of Okey Emordi still has some work to do.
Tornadoes thought they have equalized a well taken free kick by Ifeanyi Okoye in the 23rd minute left Abia Warriors Anozie Chinedu stuck to the ground as the cross bar came to their rescue.
Coach Bala said his focus now shifts to Nassarawa United match in Lokoja and he will go back and plan on winning the match.
