'My players are now confident and more determined' – Kotoko Coach

Johnson Smith, Interim Head Coach of Asante Kotoko says their improved performances recently is due to the increased level of confidence in the playing body.

He made this assertion following their 2-0 home win against Liberty Professionals in a match-day eight encounter at the Accra Stadium on Monday.

According to the experienced coach, Kotoko had quality players and what was needed was to psyche these players up well, to be able to get the best out of them.

“You don’t need intensive training to bring the best out of the players but sometimes you have to psyche the players because they’re very good individually, so you have to build their confidence and not pressure them too much”.

“So you can attribute our recent display to confidence and determination,” he said in a post-match press conference.

When asked about the tactical progress being made by his side since he took the mantle as the Head Coach, Smith said, “Since our loss to Sudanese side Al-Hilal we have learnt the transitional play tactics that is playing from defence to midfield and to attack and we have also worked on our finishing at training.”

“So the players are gradually getting used to the system we have adopted because at first we did little running but now things have changed with the players making more incisive runs and it has changed our play,” he added.

When asked about his game plan heading into their week nine encounter against West Africa Football Academy (WAFA), Smith answered, “I have never lost at WAFA and I want to assure the fans that everything would be fine.”

Kotoko currently sit sixth on the league log with 12 points level with arch-rivals Accra Hearts of Oak.