Enugu Rangers resume camping today, plan early trip to Maseru

Players and officials of Nigeria’s sole representative in the CAF Confederation Cup, Enugu Rangers will resume camping today in preparation for their final round of the competition’s qualifying series.

The Flying Antelopes are pitched against Bantu FC of Lesotho, who will host the first leg of the qualifier in Maseru on January 11, 2019.

Rangers have a short Christmas and New Year break since dispatching Algeria’s USM Bel Abbes to get to the final round of the qualifying series.

The winner of the game against Bantu FC after the two legs will qualify for the group stage of the competition.

According Enugu Rangers’ Media Officer, Norbert Okonkwo, the Flying Antelopes started arriving in camp last night, while the rest of the team are expected in today ahead of the preparation for the away game.

He said: “We allowed the players to join their families for the Christmas celebration after our last game against USM Bel Abbes of Algeria, but we have started regrouping for the trip to Maseru.

“We will travel to Lesotho a day to the game and return immediately after the first leg to prepare for the last game.

“Even though Lesotho is not one of the big football playing nations in Africa, we reckon that for Bantu FC to get to this stage they must be a great team. We are not taking chances hence the decision to get our preparation right for the clashes, both home and away,” he said.

Bantu FC dropped to the Confederation Cup after their elimination from the CAF Champions League.

The second leg of the tie will be played in Nigeria at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Cathedral Stadium on January 18, 2019.

The Confederation Cup is Enugu Rangers’ opportunity to win another continental cup, a feat they achieved for the only time in 1977, when they defeated Cameroun’s Canon Sportif 5-2 to win the now rested CAF Cup Winners Cup.