Augustine Eguavoen has admitted that he had to rely heavily on the advice of his former Super Eagles teammate Finidi George and the Enyimba medical team before handing a late call-up to goalkeeper John Noble as a replacement for Sparta Rotterdam's Maduka Okoye, who pulled out of the roster on account of illness.

There's huge controversy surrounding Eguavoen's decision to add Noble to the squad considering the fact that he was forced off injured after 69 minutes in Enyimba's goalless draw against Wikki Tourists on Sunday evening.

Eguavoen dismissed the notion that Noble was a benchwarmer at Enyimba, saying the 28-year-old has been involved in recent games played by the Nigerian Professional Football League giants.

"Noble was actually subbed in the last game against Wikki Tourists. I heard a couple of news but I had to call my colleague whom I hold in high esteem Finidi George to find out what the situation with Noble was," Eguavoen said at Wednesday's press conference.

"He has been in goal for the last four games and then Finidi told me everything is alright. I called the medical team there and they said everything is okay so that's what informed us.

"Every other person that has not played till now in the goalkeeping department, everybody has a chance. We just pray we keep winning".

Eguavoen namechecked Lobi Stars' Stanley Nwabili and Enyimba's Olorunleke Ojo as he discussed the Nigerian Professional Football League goalkeepers he's keeping tabs on, with a view to a call up to the national team in the future.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel