This is now official. Hapoel Be'er Sheva custodian Austin Ejide has been ruled out of action for two weeks following a hamstring injury he picked up against Cape Verde in a pre - Nations Cup friendly on Wednesday.

''In fact he should be ready for our opening group game against Burkina Faso on January 21.

''The doctor has explained that he has started his recovery therapy already and in four days, before we leave Portugal for South Africa, we should have a progress report on whether he has improved or not,'' says Nigeria boss Stephen Keshi.

In case Ejide's rehabilitation does not go according to plan, Heartland goalie Daniel Akpeyi has been placed on standby.