Nassamu Yakubu – Soulama’s Return Is A boost

Accra Hearts of Oak goalkeepers’ trainer Nassamu Yakubu says Soulama Abdoulaye’s return from international duty to the team is a boost for the side going into Sunday’s game in Techiman, but believes the fans must still throw their support for second choice goalie, Samuel Akurugu.

Akurugu deputized for Soulama Abdoulaye in the last match-day against Wa All Stars, and although he had been in impressive form against Medeama SC and Wassaman United, he did not have a good day last Sunday in Accra.

Speaking after the team’s Thursday training session, Nassamu admitted the team buckled under pressure against All Stars, but has welcomed Soulama’s timely return to the setup.

“Soulama’s return is a boost to the team,” Nassamu told the club’s official newspaper, the HEARTS NEWS. “I think for once we saw the team playing under pressure and we faulted.

“The communication was not there, if you look at the third goal we conceded [against All Stars] for instance, three players were round the ball with no one  getting his foot to it. It was uncalled for. We have done that correction and so whoever is around the ball should be vocal. If you are not getting the ball, don’t let your opponent get to it,” he said.

Despite impressive outings and two clean-sheets against Medeama and Wassaman, Akurugu’s confidence has gone down, but Nassamu believes support from the fans can help the young goalkeeper overcome the bad feeling.

“The pressure fell on Akurugu on Sunday but it is a process and you cannot play that position without having that bad feeling,” the Hearts goalkeepers’ trainer said.“I know Akurugu is not comfortable now because he feels he has let the team down. But I think he can recover from it and we have to work hard on it.

“We shouldn’t just throw him away with the bath water; we may need him again. In my dialect, they say, ‘if your child drowns in water, would you stop drinking water?’ Never! So we should support Akurugu.”

On Sunday’s game against Techiman City and what we should expect from his goalkeepers, Nassamu said: “We will do our best and we will see after 90 minutes; what result we will get.”

Nassamu Yakubu – Soulama’s Return Is A boost