Football
Dami Ugbane, Special to ESPN 7y

ABS FC shocked by unexpected relegation struggle

ABS FC media officer Olayinka Owolewa has told KweséESPN that his side are shocked by their NPFL relegation struggles this season, but are confident that they can beat Rivers United this weekend.

The Ilorin-based club have found the going tough in the second half of the season, and having failed to pick up a win in four consecutive matches, they are firmly in a relegation battle with 10 games to play.

"Honestly we are shocked and not pleased at the recent turn of events," Owolewa told KweséESPN, "especially last weekend's [4-2] home loss against Sunshine Stars.

"We have been struggling to win home games against teams we dominated and outplayed away from home in the first round of the league."

The privately sponsored team started the season strongly, with Adeshina Gata impressing, but have now dropped to 17th - occupying the final relegation spot - and are under pressure from above to turn things around.

"The Director of football had a meeting with the team ahead of our game on Sunday," the media officer added, where he emphasized the need to win our home games to ensure we beat the drop this season.

"We know Rivers United have a competitive team, especially in the goalkeeping department, as we all recently saw in the CAF Confederation Cup, but we are confident in the abilities of our coaching crew and players to emerge victorious on Sunday as we aim to bounce back to winning ways to improve our league standing."

Two of the division's four privately sponsored teams are currently in the relegation zone, which may well mute some of the recent clamour for greater private investment in the division.

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