Liberty Professionals coach, David Ocloo, says 10 players from the club’s academy side have been drafted into the first team following the departure of some key players to local and foreign clubs.

Players such as Godfred Atuahene, Shadrack Adombila, Stanley Anigyei and Maxwell Kavor, are among the players who have been promoted to the senior side.

These who have left the club include former skipper Emmanuel Ampadu, who has joined Legon Cities, goalkeeper Fatau Dida, who is in DR Congo to finalise a deal with AS Simba Kamikaze, while winger Mubarak Alhassan and striker Elvis Kyei Baffour have signed for Granada of Spain and AS Soliman of Tunisia respectively.

In his reaction, Coach Ocloo said he believed the departure of the players would not affect the club.

“It’s both good and bad; good in the sense that it will allow fresh entrants to have an opportunity to play and showcase their talents.”
“On the other hand, it is bad because the team will lack experience and may struggle from the beginning,” he told Graphic Sports in an exclusive interview last Thursday.

Coach Ocloo, who replaced the unlicensed Reginald Asante, dreaded that the most severe drawback of his team could be the graduation of the 10 new players.

“There will be a lot of panicking; this is the Premier League and the experience will not be there. That is my worry because most players will panic,” he stated.

Nonetheless, he believed that his team was well prepared ahead of the league.

“We started training a fortnight ago and everything is going on very smoothly. The boys are very hungry to play,” he revealed.

He pointed out that his team could not wait for the commencement of the league since footballers were hungry to play again after the pandemic.

“It has been three years now with no tangible football activities after the Anas exposé and the coronavirus pandemic, so we have suffered a three-year drawback,” he noted.

He gave an assurance that Liberty Professionals would fight for the top bracket of the league when it started and therefore charged the supporters of the club to throw their weight behind them.