Nigeria's caretaker manager Augustine Eguavoen and Wilfred Ndidi attended a mandatory press conference on Saturday ahead of the national team's 2021 Africa Cup of Nations round of sixteen clash against north African giants Tunisia.

One of the questions Eguavoen was asked was to explain why he had a lengthy conversation with Umar Sadiq in one of the training sessions after the victory over Guinea-Bissau.

The jury is still out on whether the Almeria striker can cut it at international level despite opening his account for the national team against the African Wild Dog after only 81 minutes of action combined in three games.

Nigeria legend Austin Okocha criticized Sadiq for his poor decision making in front of goal in the 24th minute of the clash against Guinea-Bissau, saying he should have passed the ball to Kelechi Iheanacho, who was behind him and better placed to score.

Eguavoen defended Sadiq to an extent but advised the former AS Roma, Partizan Belgrade and Rangers player not to be obsessed with scoring goals.

"I had a personal conversation with him, we have a lot of confidence in him, he's been scoring goals in clubs he's been playing for," Eguavoen told reporters.

"We know this is national team, this is a very big stage, he should first of all look at assists before trying to score.

"He's an integral part of this team, we have absolute confidence in him, whenever he's brought in he'll always do well."

The 1994 Africa Cup of Nations winner added : "He also told me that as a striker first thing in his mind is to score goals, I said that's an instinct, that's normal but it's the team, we believe in you whenever you have a chance again if you have a chance to score you score, if you don't just pass on the ball, we have a lot of confidence in you, you're still part of this team, don't let what other people are talking about you bother you".

Sadiq made his starting debut against Guinea-Bissau after featuring off the bench in previous AFCON matches with Egypt and Sudan.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel