By Joe APU
Thursday, July 27, 2006

Uwua told Daily Sunsport in Kaduna during one of his team’s training sessions that the absence of some players have distrupted his coaching programmes.

" As you can see, things are being done here to give the team some relevance, but they don’t seem to be going according to plans because the clubs are in the attitude of recalling their players, to the detriment of my programmes.

At the moment, you can see that the camp is not as full as I would have wanted, but I will do my best to see that I give the best to Nigeria. The task is not one that we will take with kid gloves, but I can assure you that at the end of the day, we will present a solid team," he said.

Asked why he has suddenly been on the quiet side since he was appointed, coach Uwua said he no longer owns himself. "As you may have been aware, I’m a chief in my village and cannot be seen to be making some statements in public, which will reduce the respect my people have for me. I want my work to speak for me and where I feel that things are not going on as it should, I will talk to the NFA secretariat.

But there is need for Nigerian especially the clubs to give us the nececsary cooperation that we need to make progress with the team we’re building. The job is not just for me and my coaching staff. We need everyone that is concerned to make the difference," he stressed.

The Flying Eagles are preparing for the AfricaYouth Championship qualifiers, which will be hosted by Congo in 2007 with the Nigerian team playing their first game against Gabon.