Chelsea icon John Obi Mikel will miss Saturday's Africa Cup of Nations round of 16 match between Nigeria and Cameroon at the Alexandria Stadium after sustaining an injury earlier this week in the loss to Madagascar.
Gernot Rohr has also confirmed that Bursaspor's Abdullahi Shehu won't be fit for the game against the defending champions while Jamilu Collins is available for selection having recovered from injury.
''About the injuries we have good news from Collins, he can play now, I don't know yet if he can start or not but he'll be on the bench with the group again.
''We have only the injury of our captain Obi Mikel, he will not be able to play this match tomorrow.
''Shehu is still receiving treatment, he has started training now but not able to play yet.''
''Shehu is still receiving treatment, he has started training now but not able to play yet.''
From the coaching point of view, things didn't go right for the Super Eagles in their last game against Madagascar and it is believed that they took their feet off the pedal after qualifying for the round of 16 with a game to spare.
Rohr says the Super Eagles are motivated to beat Cameroon in tomorrow's fixture.
''The Madagascar game was a little bit special because we could lose it and still qualify, we didn't want to lose it of course.
''But the players, being qualified after two victories, perhaps in their mind even if you told them to be serious and be committed, it was not the same like the two first games.
''There were some individual mistakes and we have to forgive the players. We know Balogun made a mistake from John's pass, we had a friendly against Senegal and Omeruo made a mistake that led to the goal and then he scored the winner vs Guinea.
''There were some individual mistakes and we have to forgive the players. We know Balogun made a mistake from John's pass, we had a friendly against Senegal and Omeruo made a mistake that led to the goal and then he scored the winner vs Guinea.
''In our team, there is no problem, we know that we have to win this match whether it is 120 minutes, we are ready for it. I believe that fitness is very, very important in this tournament,'' the German concluded.
Igho Kingsley
Photo Credit : cafonline.com
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