NPFL: Deji Ayeni craves strong finish as Akwa United host Kwara United in Uyo 

By Wale Mustapha

Head Coach of Akwa United, Deji Ayeni has urged his players to avoid distractions in their quest to end the 2022/2023 Nigeria Premier Football League abridged season on a high.

A win at the match will return Akwa back to second in Group A behind Insurance and boost their qualification bid in securing a place in the Super Six playoffs.

Speaking ahead of Monday’s clash billed for Godswill Akpabio Stadium, Ayeni stressed the need for the Promise Keepers not to lose focus on the immediate set target.

“Gradually, we are getting towards the end of the season and our four remaining games are very crucial to us because we cannot afford to drop any more points,” Ayeni told NigeriaFootball.ng.

“That is why we have made up our minds to approach all those games with a positive mindset. We are still focusing on our target which is to make it to the playoffs and for us to qualify, we need to win our games.

“We know that the match with Kwara United will be a tough one and we are fully prepared to give our best to ensure we get all three points.

“In our last two games, we only managed to get one point from a possible six and we have to recover those points that we lost. I’m happy that my boys are all in good shape and are hungry to play so it’s up to us to do our best and ensure we record victory on Monday.”

Akwa United lost the first leg of the fixture to Kwara United with 2-1 as scoreline.

This will be the 14th time both sides will be meeting in the Nigeria top-flight with Kwara claiming the bragging rights with five wins to Akwa’s four, while four of those ties ended in draws.

The Promise Keepers are third in Group A with 23 points from 14 games while Kwara United are 8th on the log with 13 points from 14 matches as well.