Maurice Cooreman, the Technical Adviser of Ikorodu United FC has assured the fans of the Lagos-based club that it would survive the relegation battle in the Nigeria National League (NNL).
Cooreman, in an interview with newsmen on the sidelines of his team’s 1-0 victory over Bayelsa United, said he was confident of his team’s relegation survival.
The Ikorodu Oga Boys secured their first win in the NNL over the riverside team at the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere, Lagos.
It was the team’s first match in Lagos after they were relegated from the Nigeria Professional Football League in 2015/2017 season.
The Ikorodu-based team, however, moved out of their home ground at Onikan Stadium to MKO Abiola Stadium, Abeokuta, which the club’s management rationalised as an administrative decision.
With yet another unsuccessful outing outside Lagos, the management of the club took a decision to return to Lagos to play the rest of the league matches.
Lagos, however, provided the much needed succour as the team was able to beat high flying Bayelsa United their first win in four matches.
However, the 73-year-old club’s tactician, Cooreman, believes that his team has what it takes to swim out of the “troubled waters of relegation” as they return to Lagos.
Cooreman, who was instrumental to leading Ikorodu United from the second tier to the NPFL in 2015, restated that coming back to Lagos was crucial to the team’s survival.
“I believe we can do better in Lagos than Abeokuta. The pitch in MKO Stadium is not our favourite. We cannot play well on it because it is bumpy.
“I know playing in Teslim Balogun will improve our game and that is why we decided to come back, my strikers are better off on this pitch, they play smoothly than before.
“We can also absorb pressure here and my target is to help the club to gather points as much as possible, so we will improve on our play to boost our chances.
“Today the pitch plays important role in the game, we can play one-touch-two-touches without missing the ball and that is important. We had a good game,” he said.
Cooreman said that the technical crew would consider fortifying the defence in order to avoid conceding unnecessary goals.
“I will be looking at the defence line in order to re-adjust and see how we conceded goals. Sometimes some of the players are half fit, especially in the defence.
“The defence must be improved upon because they are playing too wide; they don’t read their lines and they make a lot of mistakes.
“That is what we will work on it to survive the relegation,” he said.
NAN also reports that Ikorodu United still maintains 17th position in the Southern Conference of the NNL with 18 points from 19 league matches.
