Super Eagles coach Gernot Rohr has explained why Hapoel Beer Sheva's John Ogu has been deployed as a central defender in Tuesday's international friendly against Uganda.

Responding to a question from SuperSport TV, Rohr said that he wanted to observe some players who were omitted form previous squads on account of injuries and also run the rule over Villarreal new kid on the block Samuel Chukwueze.

''That is not the first time, he (Ogu) did it already in the World Cup training sessions even in the friendlies,'' Rohr said.

''We want to see some new faces in the team like Chukwueze with his left foot on the right side, other players coming back like Osimhen after a long time with injury.

''It is a moment for them to show they are fit again and they can bring something to the national team.''

The former Bayern Munich defender added : ''Ogu is coming back, Mikel Agu is coming back, I think it is an interesting game, a good test for us.

''We want to win and don't want to experiment so much.''

John Ogu played as a center back in the Super Eagles pre-World Cup friendlies against England and Czech Republic but his favorite position is central midfield.

Igho Kingsley