Onaolapo: Enyimba will do well this season

For much of the 2016/17 NPFL season, Enyimba struggled to fill the right full-back position. Goodluck Onamado and midfielder dynamo Dare Ojo filled in for the most part, before, in a flash of inspiration, winger Andrew Abalogu was converted midway through the season.

However, with the arrival at the club of Yinka Onaolapo, it appears those troubles are now at an end. The former Nasarawa United man has himself undergone a conversion of sorts - naturally a central midfielder, he nevertheless made his league debut playing at centre-back for the Lafia-based side - but caught the eye dominating the right flank for the Solid Miners last term.

Onaolapo is well aware of long-standing vacancy in his position, but insists he is unfazed by it and by the challenge of turning out for one of Africa's biggest clubs.

"I’ve heard about the issue with the right back spot (from last season), but I don’t think playing under pressure brings the best out of anyone," he told Enyimba Media. "So the best thing is for me to go out and give what I've got.

"Coming to Enyimba was prompted by the fact I felt I needed a bigger challenge. The dream of every player is to be going upward. If anyone hears, anywhere in the world, that you play(ed) for Enyimba, I think it speaks volumes."

Onaolapo has already begun to give a glimpse of just what he is capable of, impressing at December's NPFL Invitational Preseason Tournament, and also making his competitive debut in Sunday's 1-1 draw against Lobi Stars.

He admits he has had help settling in, in the form of striker Chinonso Okonkwo, with whom he shares a long-standing friendship. 

"Well, I [wouldn't] say it has been easy. You know, adaptation. But I have a very good brother of mine, Chinonso Okonkwo, who has been of help.

"He’s always like, ‘This is how things are here, it’s not like in other clubs you’ve been in. These are the rules and regulations, and you have to abide by them’.

"We played together back then at Lagos United, and then First Bank FC, four or five years ago, and we've been friends ever since."

Having begun the campaign with a hard-fought draw on the road, there is optimism within the club regarding the return of Technical Adviser Paul Aigbogun to the helm. It is a feeling shared by the players as well, and Onaolapo has been won over by the gaffer's preferred style, as well as his methods.

"Whenever he’s talking to us, and I think back [to] some of the coaches I've played under, I realise that he has come in with a new philosophy, a new thing that I feel, if we really try our best, we’re going to gain more. He doesn’t just want you to play the football, but also to play to instructions at every given point, all through to the end of the game.

"Truth is, if we (the players) can try as much as possible to get used to the style he wants us to play, it’s going to be very hard for any club to stop us."

The heated atmosphere of Wednesday's Oriental derby against visiting Heartland FC certainly provides the perfect platform to demonstrate the strides Onaolapo, and the team, have made so far.