Head coach of Akwa United Ayodeji Ayeni has admitted that the just concluded Nigeria Professional Football League season was a difficult one for his side.

Akwa United entered into the campaign as defending Champions, but their title defense ended in disappointment fashion.

The team however lost their last game of the season to Rangers in Awka, ending the campaign in 9th place with 52 points – 25 points behind champions Rivers United.

Coach Ayeni speaking on their dismal season, said the entire staff of the club is unhappy, but reiterated that there will be massive recruitment of players in the off season.

“The just concluded season was really tough despite our effort to achieve our set goal.

“We endured difficult moments especially at home where we dropped vital points in games we should have won comfortably and at the end of the day we rounded-off our season in 9th position and as far as I’m concerned, that is not good enough for a team like Akwa United.

“I took charge of the club in mid-season and we put in our best to ensure we finished strong, but it wasn’t to be.

“Every match we played was difficult because all our opponents wanted to prove a point playing against the champions.

“We also observed that goal scoring was a big challenge and we hope to fix that as we look forward to building a more formidable squad for the next football season.

“As we will be embarking on end-of-season break, we will reflect on the lessons learnt from the just concluded season because we hope to bounce back stronger”.

The 2021 champions recorded 13 victories,13 draws with 12 loses in 38 league games scoring 35 while conceding 36 goals in the course of the season.