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‘We don’t have quality strikers in NPFL’ — Kennedy Boboye
Bendel Insurance head coach Kennedy Boboye has raised concerns over what he described as a shortage of quality natural strikers in the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL).
Boboye spoke after his side secured a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Ikorodu City in their Matchday 5 encounter at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium, admitting that poor conversion of scoring chances remains a major concern for his team.
The Benin Arsenal created several opportunities during the encounter but struggled to put the game beyond the visitors, despite eventually securing all three points.
Chinedu Nwosu broke the deadlock from the penalty spot in the 50th minute after Emmanuel Dung was brought down inside the box.
Ikorodu City fought back and levelled matters through captain Farouk Salami in the 80th minute, setting up a tense finale in Benin.
Bendel Insurance, however, regained the advantage four minutes later when Alex Oweiyalefa headed home to restore the hosts’ lead and seal the victory.
The result came despite Insurance registering 20 attempts on goal, with nine of those efforts on target, highlighting the number of opportunities the home side created during the contest.
Boboye said his technical crew continues to work on finishing during training but acknowledged that the problem becomes more pronounced when his players face the pressure of competitive matches.
The experienced tactician went further, arguing that the challenge is not limited to Bendel Insurance but reflects a broader issue within Nigerian domestic football.
“Taking our goal-scoring opportunities in games, we do them in training sessions. But when it comes to games like this, if we don’t take them, it becomes a problem for us,” Boboye said.
“Actually, it’s a problem everywhere in the country because, I’m sorry to say this, we don’t actually have quality strikers in the league,” he said.
According to Boboye, the shortage of specialist centre-forwards has forced coaches to improvise by converting wide players into attacking roles.
“We (coaches) are just managing. Most of the strikers you see playing for Bendel Insurance are not point men. They are players who play from the sides, but we decided to convert them (to attackers) just to make up for the team,” he added.
The victory lifted Bendel Insurance to fourth position with nine points from their opening five matches of the 2026/27 NPFL campaign, having recorded three wins and two defeats.
The Benin club will now look to build on the victory when they face Abia Warriors in their next league fixture on September 27.
For Boboye, the early-season challenge extends beyond securing results, with the development and conversion of attacking players likely to remain an important part of his team’s preparations as the NPFL campaign progresses.
