Ilechukwu shifts focus to Champions League after draw with Katsina

Rangers International head coach Fidelis Ilechukwu has said his team needs to do better as they prepare for the CAF Champions League. This comes after they started their title defence with a 1-1 draw against Katsina United.

The defending champions played at the MKO Abiola Sports Arena in Abeokuta on Sunday. Luis Dadong scored for Katsina United just before half-time. Chibueze Oputa saved Rangers by equalizing deep into stoppage time.

Ilechukwu was not satisfied with the result. He believes Rangers can learn from this game as they get ready for their continental challenge.

"I’m not happy, but a game like this has something that you need. I think it looks like three points for us, even if this is not what we prepared for," Ilechukwu said after the match.

"We’ll go back home and start thinking, working and looking at what we’re going to do before our game in the Champions League."

Rangers are currently using the MKO Abiola Sports Arena as their temporary home. This is while their Enugu stadium is being renovated. The arena will also be their base for the CAF Champions League preliminary round.

The Flying Antelopes are set to play against AS Sobemap from Benin Republic in the preliminary round. Their time at the Abeokuta venue could be important for them.

Despite the disappointing result, Ilechukwu thanked the fans in Ogun State for their support. He appreciated the warm welcome from local supporters.

"I want to first of all thank the fans, Abeokuta people, for the great support. It’s not easy to come here for a few days and get this kind of massive support," he said.

"To me, it’s something that I don’t believe is going to happen. I think here is home, and there’s nothing we can do about it for now. So accepting it is what we need to do, and I think they welcomed us very well."

The Rangers coach also shared that preparations at the temporary base are going well. He believes they can fix the mistakes from their first league match.

"Our training sessions have been fine, it’s a great one. Everything is in our hands. All the errors and mistakes are from us," Ilechukwu added.

"So we thank the fans for the support. But I think this goal is for the fans because of the support. And we’ll go back and work."

Rangers found it hard to assert themselves against Katsina United. Still, the coach saw some improvement in the second half.

"I think the second half was a little bit better than what we had in the first half. We’ll look at what we’re going to do. We have a lot of chances, but I don’t know," he said.

The Rangers boss insisted there is no need to panic. He pointed out that most of his attacking options are available despite the absence of the club captain due to injury.

"There’s no problem. We have the confidence. Almost all the front line was there, apart from our captain, who had an injury a few days before this game. Apart from that, everything was perfect."

Rangers will now quickly shift their focus from domestic football to the CAF Champions League. Ilechukwu and his team are expected to use the next few days to fix the issues shown in the game against Katsina United.

The Enugu side enters the continental competition as Nigeria’s reigning champions after winning their ninth NPFL title last season. But their draw on opening day shows they have work to do to compete well on both sides.