Date: 2018-07-14

Kwara United head coach Abubakar Bala has taken positives from his side's latest 2-1 defeat at the hands of Shooting Stars in a friendly on Thursday.

The Nigeria topflight side almost grabbed a win through Stephen Alfred's 28th-minute lead but second-half strikes from Ope Oluwafemi and Emmanuel Morris dented their hopes in Ibadan.

However, the tactician insists he is unperturbed by the loss as he is focused on ensuring his relegation-threatened side are in good shape ahead of their league resumption next week.

"We played against a solid team like Shooting Stars and it was very disappointing that we lost," Bala told Goal.

"However, we must look beyond the result and take some positives from the match. We know there is a huge rivalry between the two clubs, though it was a friendly match - that was still glaring.

"We scored first but could not protect our lead. That's football. We wanted a tough test and I am pleased we got what we want and will continue to improve before we resume our league matches."

The Ilorin-based side are 15th on the log with 29 points and will welcome reigning Federation Cup champions at the Kwara Sports Complex coming Wednesday.