Arsenal youth product Ismaël Bennacer remains doubtful to feature in the Africa Cup of Nations quarterfinal clash against Nigeria.

The AC Milan loanee sustained a hamstring injury during Algeria's hard-fought 1–0 victory over the Democratic Republic of Congo and is now in a race against time to prove his fitness for Saturday's showdown at the Grand Stade de Marrakech.

Bennacer was part of the Algeria squad that defeated the Super Eagles at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations and one of the first names on Petkovic's team sheet at the ongoing tournament in Morocco. 

The midfielder has started every match so far, with the exception of the dead-rubber encounter against Equatorial Guinea.

When asked about Bennacer's condition during the pre-match press conference, Petkovic declined to address the midfielder's situation directly, opting instead to offer a general update on the squad.

"Today we still have the last training before the match after this press conference. After the training I will decide which players are ready,"  Petkovic told reporters. 

"At the moment I cannot tell you more than that but what I can tell you is that we still have 27 players, and all of them are ready to play if I ask them to."

Bennacer did not participate in Algeria’s final training session on Friday, all but ruling him out of the quarterfinal clash against the Super Eagles.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel