Despite being on top of the 2023/24 Nigeria Premier Football League table, Enugu Rangers coach, Fidelis Ilechukwu, has said winning the title this season is not the primary target given to him by his employers, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.
The seven-time champions are currently topping the table with 54 points after 31 matches, two points ahead of Enyimba, who are second in the chasing pack that also have Lobi Stars, Plateau United and Remo Stars.
Ilechukwu’s team muscled their way to the top by displacing Lobi weeks back, but their gaffer insists they are not in the title race.
“I’m not thinking about title. Enyimba, Lobi Stars and Remo Stars are thinking about it,” Ilechukwu said via 54footballx.
“We have a very young team and structure is what we are thinking of. Maybe next season we will talk about the title. If I’m thinking about that, I will be under pressure and I don’t want to be under pressure because the management did not tell me about that.”
Rangers have the joint highest number of wins in the NPFL this season, having won 16 of their matches. They also went 10 games without a defeat before the run was halted by Katsina United and Ilechukwu.
Even with their descent run in the league, Ilechukwu maintained that they are not under pressure to outdo other teams.
“What we are doing is taking the game one at a time and we are positive.”
Ilechukwu was appointed head coach of the team before the start of the campaign. He worked with Plateau United last season and had previously managed MFM FC and Heartland.
In their last game on Sunday, Rangers were beaten 2-0 by Rivers United in Port Harcourt, which saw their four-point lead at the top of the table reduced to two.
Their next match is at home against Plateau United at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium in Enugu.
