Enyimba coach gears up for NPFL title showdown with Rangers in Enugu

Ahead of the Oriental Derby in Enugu, Enyimba head coach Yemi Daniel Olanrewaju has warned that while he respects Rangers’ Fidelis Ilechukwu as a senior colleague, the upcoming match is about defending the club’s colours. The match will air live on Beta Sports channel 244 on StarTimes this Sunday at 5pm, promising to be an epic clash.

Yemi will lead Enyimba to Enugu, where the two top teams face off at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium, with the swashbuckling Ilechukwu in the opposite dugout.

After hailing Ilechukwu as his senior and someone who could have been his boss at the defunct MFM, Yemi stated, “Everyone has to defend his club and try to get the job done. He is a great guy; I have a lot of respect for him and nothing will change no matter the results in Enugu. Ilechukwu is a senior and more like a big brother to me. He left MFM when I got there, and we have a good relationship.”

On the Matchday 35 winner-takes-all fixture, Yemi described it as “a tough game, a league decider if you ask me. Rangers look like the favourites, but we will fight till the end.”

He admitted to not having much scouting of the opponents, saying, “I don’t think I know them much. The way they started the season is not the way they are playing now, and the formation is also different with personnel.”

This lack of deep knowledge of the Enyimba team, coupled with their inability to defeat the Flying Antelopes in Aba, is not something the coach is worried about. According to him, “If our two points had not been unfortunately deducted, we should be on the same points now.”

Yemi could be described as one of the new-generation coaches in the Nigerian football ecosystem. He is a young Turk in football management with ship-sized ambitions, and you only have to