NPFL: Dokubo keen to build on Akwa Utd's first round performance
Akwa United handler, Ere Dokubo says despite his team's poor results weeks ago, he rates his side as having performed 'far above average' in the Nigeria Professional Football League's first stanza.
The Uyo-based side triumphed 2-0 over Shooting Stars in their last fixture of the Nigeria Professional Football League season's first stanza to go eighth with 27 points, a sharp contrast to their 15th place on the log at this stage last season.
"It's not a bad one," said Dokubo in a recent chat with www.npfl.ng. "We have finished far above average. Yes, we lost some points at home but we also gained some points away. So with that I think it's a good one for us. If we have not gotten points away then lost points at home then that would have been bad for us. But since we have been able to make amends for those losses with some away points, it's not a bad first stanza half of the league."
Akwa United held Sunshine Stars 1-1 early in the season despite finishing that game with 10 men before they thrashed El-Kanemi Warriors 3-1 away in Katsina. They would however drop points in back to back home defeats to neighbours Abia Warriors and Enyimba, results which saw the Federation Cup holders read the riot act on manager, Maurice Cooreman.
Cooreman's suspension paved the way for his assistant, Rivers State-born Dokubo to take over. And in reference to the poor run, the former Sharks coach says: "If we have won all these matches, then it means that the crisis is over. Overall, it was important that we ended the first stanza well and we did that."
With growing rumours that star striker Ubong Ekpai might be leaving the club soon, Dokubo says strengthening vital areas of the team is what the club are looking to do during the interval. "We want to fortify the team, there are areas we need to beef up, so we will beef them up. Areas like the attack and possibly the defensive midfield position need more quality. We want to do that."
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