OLUGBENGA Ogunbote, the head coach of Rangers International Football Club of Enugu, on Thursday said his team only respect Etoile Sportive du Sahel and are not afraid of the Tunisian side.

Rangers will host Etoile Sportive at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium in Enugu on Sunday March 3 in a Group B Match Day 4 fixture in the 2018/2019 CAF Confederation Cup competition.

“We will want to pay the Tunisian club in their own coin. So, respect and not fear is the matter here,’’ Ogunbote told newsmen in Enugu.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Etoile Sportive had defeated Rangers 2-1 last weekend in Sousse in their Match Day 3 fixture.

“Etoile Sportive is a team to respect and not to be feared and the more our players realise this the better it will
be for us in the Sunday match.

“But we are going to take the game to them, knowing fully well that the club is one of the successful teams on the continent.

“This is an opportunity to make amends for our loss in Tunis and to make our numerous fans at home and abroad happy. We will not let our fans and Nigeria down.

“Everybody in the club is aware of our position and that is why we returned to training immediately we arrived home, so as to change our position to where we ought to be.

“In this regard, we are calling on our supporters to come out en masse to cheer us to victory as we are prepared to give them beautiful football and a victory they will be proud of at last,’’ the coach said.

Ogunbote assured that his players could easily adapt to the 2 p.m. kick-off time of Sunday’s match.

“This is better to adapt to than the weather they experienced in Tunisia,’’ he said.

The coach said the North African weather was one of the factors which worked against his team.

“Here in Enugu, we will use the weather and the time of the match to our advantage because we cannot afford not to beat the visiting team,’’ he said.

Ogunbote advised the club’s supporters to coordinate themselves as they have been doing during the team’s previous matches.

“The goals may not come as early as we expect, because most of the fans will expect us to score as early as during the first 45 minutes as we did over there in Tunisia.

“But my advice for the supporters is for them to exercise patience and wait patiently for the goals to come.

“Because I believe in the players. They will finish the fight they started right from the game against Salitas FC of Burkina Faso on Match Day 1,’’ he said.(NAN)

– Feb. 28, 2019 @ 17:25 GMT |