Kanu assures Enyimba will bounce back after CAF Champions League ouster

Enyimba chairman Nwankwo Kanu has backed the Nigerian champions to get back to top reckoning after a shock elimination from the CAF Champions League at the weekend.

The nine-time Nigerian champions were eliminated by the preliminary round of the Champions League by Al Ahli Benghazi from Libya 4-3 on aggregate after both teams played out a goalless draw in the return leg match in southern Nigerian town of Aba Sunday.

The former Arsenal forward was saddled with leading ‘The People’s Elephant’ in July and while he admitted it was not a great start by the two-time African champions, he said they will put behind the setback behind them to forge ahead.

“When you lose a game of course it is bad. But if you took at the positives from the game, you’ll say that they did well,” Kanu said.

READ ALSO:AFCON qualifiers: ‘Super Eagles need a stable technical crew’, Omeruo tells NFF
“If we didn’t play well and we lost, that’s another problem.

“Now Kanu cannot carry the ball and put inside the goalpost, sometimes these things happen to the best teams, the best players and that’s football. We have to move on.

“The boys have to put their heads up and then know that sometimes in life you fall for you to stand. We need to support and encourage them to do better next time.”

Kanu said Enyimba will now shift focus to the inaugural African Football League as well as retaining the Nigerian league championship.

“Definitely for a big club like Enyimba, it’s a must to have more players to execute the three competitions we are involved in. One has gone. Now we have the Nigeria league and the African League so, yes we have to do more,” he said.

“We have to get more players to join the ones we have. All the same, the sporting director, the coaches and the players themselves have to work harder because this is not the best start.

“I believe this setback will fire them to do more.”