Botswana Premiership champions Jwaneng Galaxy coach Sean Connor has hailed Mighty Wanderers, saying they are a “much better side” than he was made to believe.
The Northern Irish tactician praised the Nomads after his team’s 1-0 defeat in Sunday’s CAF Confederation Cup preliminary round first leg at Bingu National Stadium in Lilongwe.
He said: “But we didn’t underrate them, as you saw, we were very cautious. It was a tough game and it was what we expected.
“The first half was even. They wanted to play balls in the box, but we dealt with that.
“They changed shape in the second half and pushed us through our full backs so that we would tire and [that] gave us a bit of a problem. But I think we were in control.”
On his team’s prospects of turning the tables in the return leg in Francistown this Sunday, Connor said: “When coming here, the task was to make sure we are still in the tie and I think the it is very much alive.
“Obviously, we will have to score. We can go on and win 2-0 or 3-1 as long as we don’t concede a goal.”
On the lone goal, he said: “It was a deflection, so sometimes it is hard to take.
“Once we conceded the goal, the thought process was to make sure that we didn’t concede another one.”
His Nomads counterpart, Bob Mpinganjira, said while he was delighted with the win, a two-goal margin win would have been better.
He said: “I am happy with the way the boys played though we didn’t utilise our chances.
“Believe me, they [Galaxy] are a good side and have experience . They are capable of doing much more [in the return leg] than they did here.
“So, we’ll have to fight for another goal to be on the safe side. At least, we are going there with a goal in the bag.”
