Lobi Stars braced for tough ASEC Mimosas test in Abidjan

Lobi Stars had a tough game in their opening match of the group stage of the CAF Champions League, but they rallied from a goal down to beat Memolodi Sundowns of South Africa 2-1 in Enugu last week. ASEC Mimosas of Cote d’Ivoire, on the other hand, lost 2-5 to Wydad Athletic of Morocco thus making their clash this weekend a dangerous one for the Nigerians.

But Lobi Stars are undaunted by the enormity of the task facing them at the Houphouet Boigny Stadium on Saturday when they clash in another Group A encounter.     
 
Speaking on the game in Abidjan, Lobi Star’s Oluwadamilare Ojo described Asec Mimosas as a good team, which cannot be judged by their loss to Wydad.

Ojo, who joined Lobi Stars from Enyimba and was the man-of-the match against Mamelodi Sundowns, said in an interview published by CAFOnline.com, “though we respect ASEC because of their pedigree and being former winner of the CAF Champions League, we would ensure we return Abidjan with a positive result.”
 
Also speaking on the encounter, Lobi Stars’ Coach, Solomon Ogbeide, said, “there are no small teams in the group and we are still the underdogs because the other three teams namely ASEC, Wydad and Sundowns are past winners of the CAF Champions League.
 
“We haven’t won anything yet but we can now build on the victory against Mamelodi Sundowns to focus on the next game against ASEC.

“We have a good spirit; and remains positive going for the next away game against ASEC and we are going to take the game to them in Abidjan.”

A win or draw for Lobi Stars will put them closer to the semifinals of the competition, which Enyimba is the only Nigerian team to have won the trophy. 

In other Group A game on Saturday, Sundowns will host Wydad in a match tipped to produce al the fireworks at the Moripe Stadium in Pretoria.