Inter Lagos FC’s coach, Shakiru Giwa has come out with a very bold declaration that his squad will contest effectively to clinch the Nigerian Professional Football League (NPFL) title next season, Sports247 reports.
Although his team could only finish second in the Nigerian National League (NNL) Super-4 at Remo Stars Stadium in Ikenne, Ogun State, Giwa took consolation from their 1-0 victory over local rivals, Sporting Lagos in the last game on Friday, and believes the silver medals will spur his players to glory next season.
In appreciation of his players’ efforts in Friday’s last game, Giwa reasoned further that all lessons learnt during the competition will help them get better and go all out to snatch the NPFL title at first attempt.
The former Julius Berger FC of Lagos top striker and captain affirmed, “Mark my word and write it somewhere. We are not going there just to complete the numbers. We want to seriously contest for the NPFL title next season.”
He admitted that the club’s squad is young, and the team gives a lot of attention to grooming youthful players but quickly added that their rapid progression over the years indicates that Inter Lagos FC will ruffle many feathers and prove a point in the NPFL come next season.
“This is a team of three years but, in the first two years, they qualified for the National FA Cup. Last year, we missed the play-off narrowly with just one point, and now we are there.
“So, we are making rapid progress. We truly love signing young players, and we love to develop them. That’s one of our aims and objectives. We love giving them opportunities to showcase their talent and to shape their lives.
“Many of them are in their first season with us, yet they’ve already qualified for the NPFL. That’s because we believe in them, and we trust that they can do well. The Super-4 was good for us because it helped us prepare for the NPFL.
“We saw our weaknesses and areas in which we need to improve. We now want to plan our pre-season and prepare very well so that we can do better next season.
“We’ll recruit new players where necessary, and we’ll still fortify the team, so that we can build a stronger squad to play next season in the NPFL,” Giwa submitted.
