Let’s raise the performance bar- Duncan

Ahead of their weekend clash against Berekum Chelsea at the Golden City Park, Asante Kotoko Head Coach, David Duncan has tasked his players to build on their midweek stalemate with Ashgold at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium.

According to the former Hearts of Oak trainer, there was the need for the team to show consistency henceforth following two successive draws last week with Medeama and Ashgold.

Duncan made this call on his players when speaking to the media moments after the goalless draw with the defending champions last Wednesday.

“It was a regional derby. Both teams at one time and the other had the opportunity to carry the day. It was a game in which chances were few and far between. The plot of Ashgold was to catch us on the break to unsettle us. We dominated play and made incursions when we re-organised” said Duncan.

The Porcupines’ inability to find the back of the net was however worrying and Coach Duncan captured that sincerely in his remarks.

“We are still looking erratic in front of goal. There were situations that you would expect the players to exercise patience; composure and perhaps in some situations, look at or look out for players in better positions to score” he stated.

Duncan admitted that the Porcupines simply didn’t utilize the scoring opportunities. “We just didn’t take those chances. There weren’t too many clear-cut chances. Being a little patient, putting the ball in the path of a player in a better position to score” would have led to a different outcome, the coach argued as he cited Eric Donkor and Obed Owusu as examples of players who had fine moments to score but blew them.

He shared what he would do to correct the wrong things he observed in the game. “There’s some degree of impatience. They’re often in a hurry to get the job done. From the match day one expectation, to the catch up we had to do with the second game to now, we ought to bring their psychology up”.

“I’m happy with the total team play. If it had been an abysmal performance there would have been a lot more work to be done. With the current situation, it’s just a segment of the game that has to be worked on. My work is cut out for me. I just hope that the goals will come sooner than later because football is all about goals” said Duncan.

“This is what I call intuitive football intelligence. We didn’t get the results we expected. The boys raised their performance compared to what we saw against Medeama. Hopefully this won’t be a flash in the pan. You can’t play like this and not raise the bar. We have to raise the bar” he stressed.