Super Eagles boss, Gernot Rohr has cleared the air on John Obi Mikel's absence from the team for a third consecutive time.
Concerns has been raised on the non availability of the Eagles' skipper following his absence from Nigeria's last two games against Seychelles and Liberia, raising questions on his commitment to the team.
But Rohr explained why the former Chelsea and Lyn Oslo midfielder opted out of the clash with the Mediterranean Knights.
"Mikel called to inform me on his unavailability," the coach explained in an interview session attended by allnigeriasoccer.com.
"He (Mikel) told me he wasn't ready physically for the demands of playing for the national side at least for now."
"He hasn't been in the squad of Tianjin Teda recently and that shows he is yet to hit 100% fitness."
"When he is fit, he will come back to the Super Eagles and play. He sends his messages and is always with us in spirit. Hopefully, he should be back for the game against South Africa in November."
Gernot Rohr added that he is satisfied with the level of training following their first workout on grass at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium on Wednesday evening.
The Super Eagles who are third on the Group E log face a must win game against the Mediterranean Knights in Uyo this weekend.
"We have it good with training since the beginning of the week. The environment here is serene and the pitch is in good condition.
"We have had four training sessions so far. Not all the players started with us on Monday. Some of them trained on Monday. On Tuesday we had two sessions," he explained.
Nigeria will host the first leg at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo on Saturday 13th October with the return leg is scheduled for the 18,000-capacity Stade Taïeb Mhiri in the city of Sfax, Tunisia on Tuesday 16th October.
Abayomi Ademetan
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