Rohr Doubts Musa's Fitness; Reveals Defence Stronger With Akpoguma; Returning, Absent Players

Super Eagles coach Gernot Rohr has rued the absence of two of his key wingers in the form of Bordeaux's Samuel Kalu and Nantes' Moses Simon for the upcoming 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying matches with Sierra Leone.

Kalu suffered a hamstring-related injury during the Super Eagles' 1-0 loss to Algeria last month but is nearing a return to full fitness having started ball work while Simon picked up an adductor injury against PSG at the end of last month which ruled him out of the AFCON qualifiers.

The Franco-German is delighted that Joe Aribo and Oghenekaro Etebo are back in the international fold after sitting out the games in October due to fitness issues.

Speaking at Thursday's press conference, Rohr told reporters : "Etebo, Aribo, Osimhen are the players coming back; we are still missing our wingers Kalu, Simon; we are still missing Ndidi also, Uzoho is still not ready.

"Our two friendlies in Austria gave us opportunity to see new players so we saw for the first time Sanusi on the left back position."

Everything is pointing to the fact that one of the most active players called up, Kevin Akpoguma will make his competitive debut against the Leone Stars and Rohr believes the Super Eagles defence is now more solid with the presence of the Hoffenheim star.

"We could give competition to Maduka, it's so important the goalkeeper position, we could also see for the first time Akpoguma which means that our defensive block now seems to be stronger," Rohr added.

Rohr admitted that his captain Ahmed Musa has played less than expected at club level and the former Al Nassr man will be heavily scrutinized in the final workout before he decides whether or not to name the winger in the starting lineup.

"The comeback of Osimhen should be good for us, even if we miss Kalu and Simon but we have wingers.

"The question is the fitness of Ahmed Musa - we'll see again in the training session tonight if he is able to start the game or not.

"If he's not starting he'll finish it so we'll decide which situation is better," he stressed.

There's a possibility of CSKA Moscow's Chidera Ejuke and Club Brugge's Emmanuel Dennis being handed minutes against Sierra Leone, Rohr has hinted.

"And also on the wings we have the opportunity to see players like Ejuke and the comeback also of Dennis, who is one of the players playing Champions League . We only have three- Sanusi, Dennis and Onyeka," Rohr concluded.

The Super Eagles trained behind closed doors on Thursday evening as they aim to fine-tune their strategies for the matchday three AFCON qualifying fixture.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel