Accra Great Olympics Head Coach, Yaw Preko, says he does not feel any pressure in selecting his starting line-ups for matches.
According to him, the caliber of players that start games for the club from the bench was a testimony of the team’s depth in quality.
Despite the exit of a few players including the team’s marksman, Maxwell Abbey Quaye, Preko appears to have strengthened the squad with the acquisition of Emmanuel Mensah who scored the club’s only goal against King Faisal on Sunday, Emmanuel Antwi and others.
The return of goalkeeper Benjamin Asare from a long injury lay-off and Michael Yeboah, a prolific winger in the previous season have added to the team’s depth.
With that development, top players that featured prominently in the last season, notably defender Jamaldeen Haruna, Philip Nii Kojo Sackey, Michael Yeboah, Stephen Odai Kweku have found minutes difficult to come by this season.
But Preko says that does not bring any pressure on himbut rather excites him and gives him some belief for the future.
Speaking at his post-match press conference on Saturday, Preko said it was important to have a good bench that could influence matches upon their introduction.
“So far, we have seen what our substitutes can do to influence games. In our first match against Bechem United, Ashie-Quaye come from the bench to score the only goal of the game.
“Even on Saturday, we watched the trend and decided to make changes and luckily, one of the substitutes (Mensah) scored and totally changed the game for us.”
“I don’t feel the pressure. The season is like a marathon. The FA Cup will also come up and every player will have more than enough to play. That is the reason why we must have a good bench so that when they come in, they can change something.
Preko stated that he was a bit concerned about the failure to convert the numerous chances they create.
In his view, it was a dangerous thing creating chances and failing to put them in the post because the opponent would get one and score to hurt you.
He believes Yusif Abdul Razak, Ashie Quaye, RazakKasim and others are currently not at their very best but was important for the fans to be patient with them.
“I think it’s a problem about concentration. This is something we should be working on to get them to be at their very best. Since some of them are with the national teams, I speak with their coaches about them so that they would be monitored,” he said.
He said the game against Faisal was a difficult one but was not surprised because “they have played two games and are pointless so every coach would map out a strategy to earn a point in the third game.”
BY ANDREW NORTEY
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