Head coach Gbenga Ogunbote said the Value Jet Cup was a test run process to prepare the players of Shooting Stars Sports Club (3SC) of Ibadan ahead of the new Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) season.
Losing three games and one draw to crash out of the Cup in the group stage, the former Rangers International boss is undeterred by the results, adding that the featured players, comprising new and old stock, have not blended properly.
“I see this tournament as a test run. We were able to test both the players retained and the new ones invited and I can tell you that we have been able to achieve our aim to some extent,” Ogunbote told the 3SC media.
“I am not worried by what we got here considering the fact that we featured players who had not played together and whose fitness is at the zero level. We only had just two days of training before the tournament started.
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“Now that we are done with this tourney, I can tell you that we are going to start the real business in terms of training and in a few weeks time, I can assure you that this team will be different and it will be the team to beat,” he added.
On the issue of recruiting fresh legs into the squad, the football gaffer said he will be actively involved in the process for an intensive search to bolster the ranks of his team.
Nevertheless, the 3SC boss dubbed ‘the Oracle’, commended the physically fit players for being resilient against Remo Stars despite crashing 3-1 in Ikenne to the prospective CAF Confederation Cup entrants.
Ogunbote left Remo Stars for Oluyole Warriors after his contract expired last season. Before his time with the Ikenne-based club, he also had spells with Sunshine Stars, Rangers International and Enyimba FC.
