Suleiman Ashifat, Head Coach of Kwara United, has vowed that the Harmony Boys will not succumb to their current struggles, Completesports.com reports.
Ashifat further assured that with 11 matches still remaining, the 2025 President Federation Cup holders will navigate their way to safety.
The Kwara United technical helmsman spoke after his team’s 1–0 defeat to Abia Warriors on Sunday in a Matchday 27 clash in Aba. Casmir Azubuike scored the decisive goal in the 29th minute.
Ashifat: ‘Kwara United Will Get Out Of It’
Responding to questions about the team’s difficult campaign, Coach Ashifat admitted it has indeed been a challenging season.
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“You’ve said it all by saying it’s a difficult time for us,” the former Jasper United centre-back said during the post-match press conference.
“But we’ll get out of it. I have that belief. We’ll remain focused. It’s one of those things. You can see the kind of goal they scored against us today. It was just a mistake, but that’s part of football.
“We won’t be dampened. We’ll continue to push hard. We still have 33 points to fight for. We’re on it and we’ll continue to fight to make sure that we leave the red zone.”
Kwara United Goalkeeping Errors Raise Concern
Abia Warriors capitalised on goalkeeper Suraj Ayeleso’s howler to snatch the winner — similar to the error that led to a goal in their previous home fixture against Rivers United.
Asked whether the back-to-back goalkeeping mistakes were a concern, Ashifat admitted they were troubling but attributed them to human error.
“Yes, it’s a serious cause for concern because, as you said, back-to-back mistakes are not the best,” he stated.
Also Read: NPFL: Kwara United Coach Ashifat Backs Harmony Boys To Bounce Back Despite Goal Drought
“But football is a game of mistakes. We are human beings playing it. He has been a fantastic goalkeeper, but we’ll go back to the drawing board and make the necessary corrections.”
Struggles In Front Of Goal Continue
Kwara United struggled to create clear-cut chances in the encounter — a fact the coach readily acknowledged.
“In today’s game, we couldn’t create enough scoring opportunities. Previously, we were creating chances but not converting them.
“Now, we’re not scoring much. That’s our major problem. Even the little opportunity we had today, if we were clinical enough, we should have converted it.
“It’s a serious concern, and we’ll continue to make corrections as we train and prepare for our next game.”
By Sab Osuji
