Chairman of Bechem United, Kingsley Owusu Achau has identified poor pre-season preparations as the reason for their slow start to the 2023/24 Ghana Premier League season.
Despite finishing among the top four on two consecutive seasons, the former FA Cup champions sit 12th on the league log with 8 points.
After seven games into the season, the Hunters have recorded two wins, two draws and three losses.
Owusu Achau explained that because they had agreed to play a pre-season tournament with the elite clubs from the Brong Ahafo Region they could not travel south to Accra to play as they often did during their preseason preparations.
Unfortunately, they were disappointed when the regional tournament was cancelled forcing them to play preseason games with the same third division club multiple times to warm up ahead of the start of their league campaign.
This way of preparation, he said, didn't help the team to adequately assess their strength and readiness for the season as the stamina level of most of their players were exposed when the league started.
''We're improving day by day and we'll still play the Top 4. We are very optimistic and that's our target,” he gave the assurance.
Having recorded a 1-1 draw against Asante Kotoko over the weekend at the Baba Yara Stadium, Bechem United will host Accra Great Olympics in the matchday eight games at the Nana Fosu Gyeabour Park on Wednesday with kick-off scheduled at 15:00GMT.