Itodo Akor reacts to his sixth clean sheet after El-Kanemi win

Gombe United goalkeeper and captain Itodo Akor was delighted to record his sixth clean sheet of the season for victory over El-Kanemi Warriors.

Goal from Anayo Ogbonna from the spot in the 9th minute made it their fourth League victory of the season, but the shutout a also saw Itodo record three consecutive clean sheets for the first time since January 2012.

“I think from the first minute to the last minute it was a concentrated performance from us,” Itodo told Lodgexpress.com.

“It was very tough because El-Kanemi play very deep defensively and then we got lucky with the penalty and it resulted in a well-deserved win.

“We had to keep calm because El-Kanemi were waiting for one chance from a corner or a free-kick and even a counter-attack to score and then it’s more difficult to defend a single goal and then go on to win, so I think the goal was very important for us. We kept possession and kept playing the ball, which was the main reason we played so good.”

Sunday’s win takes Gombe United up to sixth in the league but Itodo knows there’s plenty of work to do to secure a playoffs spot.

“I think we’re in a very good position and can say we’ve confirmed our status in the league next season but it’s still a long way to the top three because the other teams are getting points too,” he said. “We have to be focused in every game and if it’s possible we need to win every game. Then we can now look at our position on the table and know how far we’ve come.