Former Malta striker Alfred Effiong relishing new challenge at Sirens FC

Alfred Effiong is delighted to have finally opened his scoring account for his new club Sirens FC last weekend in a 3-1 win over Sta Lucia FC at the Hibs Stadium.

The former Malta striker put his name on the scoresheet for his new employers and said that he is pleased to be finally paying back the faith shown in him by the Sirens FC administration following his close season move to the St Paul’s Bay side.

The win over Sta Lucia FC has enabled Sirens to move up to third place in the Premier League standings on seven points after four matches.

“I really wanted to get off the mark for my new club Sirens and I am relieved to have finally opened my scoring account for them,” Effiong told the Times of Malta.

“When you join a new club, you are always keen to repay the faith that they have shown in you and hopefully this is just first of many more goals for the club

“Personally, I don’t have anything to prove at this stage of my career and my goal is to help the team as much as I can. For me, this season team success is the most important thing.”

Effiong parted ways with Balzan in the close season after six seasons during which he helped the club to an historical FA Trophy success in 2018-19 when he netted a poker of goals in the final against Valletta.

The Nigerian forward said that he felt it was the right time for him to leave Balzan and seek a new challenge.

“Last season it was difficult for me at Balzan and when the season came to a close both parties felt that it was the right time to go separate ways,” the 36-year-old said.

“I felt that I needed something new and experience something different with a new club. I had a lot of offers from other clubs in the Premier League and the Challenge League. But the Sirens president and coach both made it clear that they really wanted me to join their club as they believed in me so in the end I decided to move to Sirens and I’m pleased to have taken this decision.”

Sirens’ bright start to the season has inevitably raised the expectations at the club that they could be the surprise package this season.

But Effiong says that he doesn’t feel any pressure to perform at Sirens and said that the team are just taking it one game at a time.

“We are very happy with how the season started for us but it’s only the start of a very long and demanding season,” Effiong said.

“At the moment, we are not looking too far away and we are taking it one game at a time. We have a very young squad where everyone is keen to work hard and at the end of the day our objective is to try and win as many games as possible and see where that will take us.”