’80 percent are new’ – Jacob Vandi hails Adamawa Queens despite Ibom Angels loss

By Saheed Afolabi

Head coach of Adamawa Queens, Jacob Vandi has heaped praise on his players despite a 2-0 defeat at Ibom Angels at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo.

Second half efforts from Udeme Uko and Adekemi Akintan condemned Yola based outfit to a fifth defeat of the season and fourth consecutive away loss this term.

Despite the setback, Vandi, who is on his second spell with Adamawa side after he guided the club to the Super Six tournament in 2019, defended his players over the loss, while trusting them to bounce back in subsequent games.

“It’s so unfortunate that we are playing abridged league, this is a new team, 80 percent of them are new players that have not tasted league and they need the time to integrate fully into the Premiership,” Vandi told media.

“Because it’s now an abridged league, we don’t have much time for preparation and enough time to get them to the peak of the game and as you can see, from the first round till now, their game keeps on improving on a daily basis.

“The match they are playing, they keep on improving. Today [Wednesday]’s game, they have the best so far, even the one we played at Lokoja, they played very well it’s just that some errors or mistakes, so if we come to another match again, the approach will be different and we will be the best. I’m impressed with the way they played.”

The defeat leaves Adamawa just three points above the relegation spot and four adrifts of 12-point group leaders, Edo Queens but are yet to earn an away point this season.

They will aim to avoid back-to-back defeats on the road in Lokoja when to take on Confluence Queens on 1st March, 2023.