Date: 2018-05-27

Kwara United head coach Abubakar Bala has stated that his mission to ensure that the Ilorin club beat the drop at the end of this season in the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) remains in full swing.

Bala who replaced former Nigeria Under-20 men’s national team coach John Obuh in Mid-March is unperturbed by Kwara United's current position in the NPFL standings but is full of optimism that he will meet his target of leading them out of the bottom-four.

The former Niger Tornadoes manager also explained how he has been able to galvanize the playing personnel at Kwara United since his arrival in March.

He spoke of how he had to look "internally" at Kwara United to improve the confidence levels and playing style of the club.

"The position of the club doesn't worry me at all. I have a target and I am working on that target. The plan is to move out of our current (17th) position.

"It was a very hard job to take. Immediately I came on board I had to look internally - welfare of the players especially outstanding allowances that were not paid. I also took into consideration training styles and approach to the games.

"When I came on board I was also fortunate that my first game against Plateau United was shifted so I had 11 days to prepare the team for the next game. At the same time I had to go back to my programme for pre-season from which I used a few plans to put the team in shape. Also, I had to work on the players’ psyche," said Bala.

Bala has led Kwara United in 10 matches since he took up the head coach role at the club and has guided them to three wins, six draws and a defeat which they suffered in the hands of title-holders Plateau United in Jos