After an injury-enforced one month absence, Nigerian-born Vittoriosa Stars of Malta midfielder Joseph Jo-Jo Ogunnupe has been given the green light to return to action.
He’s thus available for selection for his team’s First Division game away on Sunday at Mqabba who sit just one point behind the Stars in sixth-place on the league table.
The exciting midfielder was giving an all-clear sign by club doctors on Friday following extensive checks on the hamstring knock which had kept him out of action since the 2-0 victory against Senglea Athletic last month.
He was initially penciled down for a March 5 return but failed a late fitness test and thus missed the 4-1 home loss to Lija last week, a result which has seen Vittoriosa slip into fifth place as the promotion race gather momentum.
A visibly elated JoJo was happy to be back and straight into the thick of action.
“I was passed fit to play on Friday and I must confess I’m happy to be back in the team. We must fight for every point home or away and I’m sure we have the squad to do it. I didn’t know I was going to be out for this long but I thank God and the medics for quickly bringing me back to full fitness. Now I’m raring to go,” the former Tranzit FC of Latvia player said.
He’s also hopeful of catching the teams ahead even with just six games of the regular season left to play.
He said: “All hope of automatic qualification is not lost. We are only three points behind the team in first position and just one game can change a lot of things. There’s still a lot to play for in the remaining six games and we will just have to approach each one of them like a cup final beginning from Mqabba on Sunday.”
Mqabba boast of an impressive home record, having won four and drawn four of their 10 home games this season so Vittoriosa will be in for a tough time. However the Stars are also good travellers with four victories and three draws from 10 away games this season.
Table-toppers Naxxar Lions lead with 39 points followed closely by Senglea Athletic and Qormi FC on 38 points with Lija and Vittoriosa joint 4th on 36 points in one of the tightest promotion races in years.
The two top teams in the First Division get automatic qualification to the Premier League while the third-placed team engages in a play-off with the 11th-placed team from the Premier League.
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