Former Nigeria goalkeeper Daniel Akpeyi has emphasised the importance of the Super Eagles keeping clean sheets if they are to have a real chance of winning the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.

Eric Chelle's side have managed just one clean sheet in their last nine outings across all competitions, which came in a World Cup qualifier against the Republic of Benin.

Despite being the highest-scoring team in the group stage of the ongoing Afcon, the three-time African champions conceded four goals, averaging one goal conceded for every two scored.

Nigeria were also on the verge of keeping clean sheets in each of their last two group stage games, only to concede in the final fifteen minutes due to lapses in concentration.

Akpeyi has raised concerns over Nigeria’s defensive vulnerabilities, highlighting the need for improvement ahead of their upcoming Afcon round of 16 clash with Mozambique.

Speaking on SuperSport, as monitored by allnigeriasoccer.com, Akpeyi said: "Unfortunately, it is something that they need to keep working on, because we can see the player there running into the pocket and getting the ball from there. 

"It makes it difficult, so is everyone sleeping at the back? They have to observe when a player is making a run into that space.

"This keeps reoccurring every now and then. I think Eric Chelle will go back to the drawing board and see how he can work on this team to make sure we don’t concede goals."

In February 2024, Stanley Nwabali etched his name into Nigerian football folklore by setting a new record for the most minutes without a conceding a goal (493 minutes) by a Nigerian goalkeeper at the Africa Cup of Nations, surpassing Super Eagles legend Ike Shorunmu who featured in two Afcons.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel