Rivers United Technical Manager, Finidi George, says his team must recover the points dropped at home when they travel to Lagos to face Sporting Lagos in their Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) Matchday 12 encounter this weekend.

The Pride of Rivers were held to a 1-1 draw by Rangers International FC in Port Harcourt, a result that left Finidi disappointed with his players’ inability to convert their scoring opportunities.

Reflecting on the encounter, the former Super Eagles coach insisted that Rivers United were the better side but criticised the defending champions for their approach to the game.

“They didn’t play like champions. I have to be honest with you. If you look at the number of chances we had, we wouldn’t be saying this if we had taken those chances. We controlled the game properly and created a lot of opportunities in both halves,” he said.

He also expressed displeasure with Rangers’ time-wasting tactics but insisted that his team must move on and concentrate on their next assignment.

“You can’t fight over spilled milk. We must go out and see how we can win elsewhere, especially as we visit Sporting Lagos this weekend. We have lost four points here and we have to get those points back,” he added.

Meanwhile, Rivers United have responded to claims by Murphy Ben International (MBI) concerning the non-availability of its television production crew for the fixture against Rangers.

In an official statement, the Port Harcourt club denied preventing or refusing access to MBI’s production crew, explaining that the match was not included in the official live-streaming schedule under the Euromatch/NPFL arrangement.

According to the club, it received an email from the league on October 30, 2026, at approximately 8:09pm, confirming that the fixture was not scheduled for live streaming.

Rivers United maintained that it acted in accordance with the league’s communication and could not disregard official broadcast directives.

The club also disclosed that MBI had covered two of its ten league matches this season, both in Port Harcourt, while reiterating its support for wider television coverage of NPFL matches across different centres.

Rivers United reaffirmed its commitment to the growth of Nigerian football, cooperation with legitimate stakeholders and compliance with league regulations.