Hearts of Oak stop-gap coach, David Ocloo, has made a bold prediction that his side would win the betPawa Premier League this season.
The Phobians were held to a goalless draw by Dreams FC at Dawu Park last Saturday, a result that pushed Hearts to the fourth position on the league log with 39 points but two points off the leaders Aduana stars who have a game in hand.
Despite dropping points, the coach maintained a positive outlook, saying his side still had a bright chance of catching up with the league leaders, Aduana Stars and overtaking them.
“I still feel we can win the [premier league] cup,” he said during a post-match interview last Saturday.
Despite the result, Coach Ocloo was full of praise for his defensive duo of Caleb Amankwah and Konadu Yiadom for their remarkable performance which ensured that the team kept a clean sheet.
“Earlier, I told you Caleb is a warrior, and I think Konadu is learning a lot from him; the two of them are fantastic, Wednesday and today they were just brilliant,” the coach said.
Dreams FC coach, Karim Zito, was also proud his side avoided defeat and earned a point against a big club like Hearts even though the home side had planned to win the match.
He identified inexperience on the part of his players as the reason they failed to win but promised to correct their mistakes in their subsequent matches by watching videos of the game.
Coach Zito blamed their performance on the effects of fasting by his Muslim players, saying that spiritual exercise might have weighed heavily on some of his players.
“I think this fasting period is a problem for us all and you can’t prevent a person from doing it. When I was a player, I had my best games during the fasting times but that was me, it might not be you, so it’s an option, a spiritual option,” said Zito, in a post-match interview.
Dreams are lying 12th on the league betPawa Premier League log and have won only one of the last five matches with nine games to end the season. Nonetheless, the coach said his primary aim was to survive the relegation tide this season and win it the next season.
“Don’t worry about the matches, worry about the points. We have about nine matches to play and even if I try to win all home matches I will survive. My primary concern now is to remain in the league and then we use the next year to prepare well.”
Source: Graphic online