Sunshine Stars must be respected – Chigozie Chilekwu

Chigozie Chilekwu believes Sunshine Stars have done enough to deserve respect as the NPFL Championship Playoffs enters its final two days.

Sunshine are Enyimba’s opponents on Friday, with Finidi George’s men needing a win to keep their position in their quest for the league crown. 

The Owens Waves however, have amassed only two points – three less than Enyimba’s haul – and must get a result to stand any chance of getting a top three finish. 

The significance of the game to both sides makes Chilekwu believe that Friday’s game will not be just a walk in the park.

“I know the Sunshine game will not be easy because it is as important to them as it is important to us,” the left back noted.

“We have now reached the crucial stage and every point matters to every team right now. Sunshine is my former team and I understand the mentality of the team. They are fighters and we have seen it already in the course of this tournament. Nobody gave them a chance but they have worked hard to be here and must be respected.”

Chilekwu also took time to reflect on lessons learnt from the 1-1 draw against Insurance. 

“Against Insurance, we had our chances and they had theirs. It could have gone either way but I think we deserved to win because we created more scoring chances.

In the first half they were more dominant but during the break our told us a lot of things. He told us to maintain our cool and gave us a lot of instructions and we can all see how it played out, because we were more composed and calmer.”

“So now, we have to learn our lessons as we approach our last two matches.”