Enugu Rangers head coach, Gbenga Ogunbote has warned his players against complacency as they face Bantu FC of Lesotho in the playoff round of the CAF Confederation Cup next month.
The Flying Antelopes have beaten Defence Force of Ethiopia and USM Bel-Abbes of Algeria in the preliminary round and first round respectively and Bantu FC are the only hindrance to their place in the group stage of the second-tier club competition.
But Ogunbote told his players that they must show respect to their next foes and must approach the two games with all seriousness and focus.
He said his background check on them showed that they are a scoring side and that they have scored in all the four matches they have played before their demotion to the CAF Confederation Cup from the CAF Champions League.
Ogunbote noted that their elimination of Township Rollers of Botswana who got the group stage of the CAF Champions League this year and scoring in both legs against CAF Confederation Cup 2018 finalists, AS Vita Club of DR Congo before they were beaten 5-2 on aggregate showed that they are a good side that must not be joked with.
The former Sunshine Stars and Enyimba gaffer pointed out that the objective of his team is to ensure that they give a good account of themselves in the first leg in the weekend of January 11-13, 2019 before finishing up the task before their fans a week later.
“We must show respect to Bantu FC because the preliminary check I ran on them showed they are a good side,” Ogunbote told SportingLife.ng.
“They are the champions of their country’s league and for them to have dropped from the CAF Champions League indicated that they are no pushovers. We cannot afford to be complacent because it can be dangerous to our aspirations to get to the group stage.
” We cannot afford to relax having gone this far. We must do all we can to ensure that we get to the group stage. We are going to prepare very well for them and approach both games as serious as possible.”