Niger Tornadoes head coach, Majin Mohammed, has blamed his side’s share of the points with Kun Khalifat FC in Sunday’s 1-1 draw in the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) to fatigue and underrating their opponents.
Majin stated that he had warned his players before the game to disregard Kun Khalifat’s position on the table.
He added that fatigue also played a part in their underwhelming performance against the new boys following their long trip back to Minna from Port Harcourt.
“Well, there was nothing wrong with our approach to the game, especially when playing at home, the plan was the same, which was to win, but in football, three things are involved, either you win, draw or lose, irrespective of wherever you are playing. But, the bottomline was, the players judged Kun Khalifat FC based on the position they are occupying on the league table and I warned of such, they clearly underrated the opponents.
“Secondly, fatigue equally had a telling effect. We travelled to Port Harcourt, played on Wednesday came back on Thursday and arrived at night so we couldn’t do anything on Friday, we only had a shakeup with almost the same players we travelled with.
“And lastly, I think we didn’t play badly like some people would think, but we didn’t take our chances but that’s football for you. I appeal to our people to be calm, whatever we lose here we can equally get it back elsewhere. Others even lost at home, so we should thank God for the point gained.
Majin’s side looked to be on the way to clinching the full points at the Bako Kontagora Stadium in Minna where Abba Khalid has put them in front on 42 minutes.
Eight minutes to time, Ugochukwu Akuta levelled the score for Kun Khalifat to secure only their second point on the road.