Enyimba assistant coach Enyimba Olanrewaju Daniel has stated that anything less than a first-place finish in any tournament is a failure for the Elephants. Enyimba drew 1-1 against Bendel Insurance on match-day three of the NPL Super Six playoffs, with Sadiq Abubakar scoring for Enyimba in the 23rd minute and Divine Nwachukwu equalising for Bendel Insurance in the 37th minute. Despite the draw, Enyimba are at the top of the six-team standings after three games with five points, the same as champions Rivers United who are in second place.
After the match, Daniel admitted that the coaching crew of Enyimba, led by Finidi George, are under pressure to succeed. “As long as Enyimba go into tournaments, people expect Enyimba to win,” he said. “This is a club that second best is not good enough. We know the pressure that we are facing, Finidi and I are facing a lot of pressure from the club because the only thing they demand is result, either good or bad they want result so second or third will not be good for us.”
Daniel also commented on the draw against Bendel Insurance, who have now gone 21 games without defeat. “They couldn’t create anything against us, we made it very difficult for them because we’ve played them twice we know the way they set up defensively,” he said. “But maybe we didn’t take our chances which is the only negative thing today. But Insurance are a decent side because to go 21 unbeaten is not easy so we will move on and focus on the next game against Sunshine.”
Enyimba will face Sunshine in their next game, and the pressure will be on the Elephants to secure a win and maintain their top position in the standings. With the club’s demand for results, anything less than a first-place finish in the NPL Super Six playoffs will be considered a failure.
