28th January, 2011
Lobi Stars have said that their aim in the Nigeria Premier League, NPL would have been rea;ised if they become known as harvest ground of players than engaging in the rat race to win the league shield.
Insisting that their day would have been made to be known among their colleagues as the team that groom green horns to stardom, spokesman of the Makurdi-based team, Atom Terkula told SuperSport.com that they want to be the ‘Arsenal’ of the Nigerian League.
“We groom players like Arsenal and sell them out to other teams, Lobi go to the grass roots and pick raw players, brush and groom them to play good football, that is what Arsenal do, so we want to be known for that in Nigeria. “Ours is to stay in the league, we are not bothered about position, we want to play good football and we have shown that strength, no team have beaten us by 3-0 even with the local players in our fold.â€
Lobi are yet to record an away win so far in the season, even with an intensified preparation, and Terkula is not certain that the feat will be achieved this weekend when they visit second placed Sunshine Stars for the week 14 duel scheduled for the Ijebu Ode international stadium.
“We are preparing to play well against Sunshine Stars, our target is to get a draw at worst or beat them. Football is about win, draw or lose, I discovered that every team want to win, we pray for free and fair officiating, if that is given and we win, glory be to God, but we will not put a bet on it.
“We do not have big names, people do not even know Lobi, it is okay with us, that underdog status has helped us a lot,†he said.
Lobi recorded a hard earned 1-0 victory over Ocean Boys last weekend and that pushed up their position on the log to 14 and with the same number of points.