Akwa United of Uyo coach, Abdu Maikaba has blamed his side’s loss to Rangers International of Enugu in the Federation Cup on the hot weather at the match venue in Kano.
Though the Flying Eagles assistant coach praised his players for putting up a gallant fight in the game, as they dragged the match into penalties’ shoot-out, he told sports247.ng that it would have been a different story had the weather been mild.
The result on Wednesday ended all hope held by The Promise Keepers for a successful title defence, but Maikaba said they will pick up the pieces and bounce back.
Nonetheless, he admitted that his side were not as much in the game as he would have wanted them to be, which he also attributed to the hot weather.
Maikaba went on to fault the organisers’ timing of the game and the fact that it was played on an artificial pitch, which he said affected his players.
“It was a tough game as expected. I congratulate Rangers for their victory, but I know the defeat was because my players could not adjust to the astro turf on which they played the game.
“There was also the issue of hot weather, which equally made the pitch difficult top step on, and distracted the players.
“There is also the fact that fatigue resulted from the tight scheduling of many matches and the kick off time.
“All the same, we are gallant in defeat, and we will go back to our base to pick it up from there for the future.”
