The former African champions face their West African neighbours in back-to-back Afcon qualifying games
Super Eagles head coach Gernot Rohr has expressed travelling concerns regarding some Nigerian stars invited for the November 8 match against Sierra Leone.
The bulk of Super Eagles players are expected from European nations, many of which are introducing new lockdown restrictions following fresh coronavirus outbreak across some parts of the continent.
But the Nigeria Football Federation has instructed the invited players to report for international duty latest Monday, November 9, at the team’s camp in Benin City, Edo State.
But that target date no longer seems feasible with as many as fourteen Nigerian players involved in club duties on Sunday, and Rohr admits the Super Eagles coaches will show understanding to those who arrive camp late.
“The update today is that our 23 players are fit, there are some travelling problems because they cancelled one or two flights, because you know in Europe now it’s another lockdown in certain countries and it’s not easy to find the flights but our team manager is working on it with the travelling agency,” Rohr told the Super Eagles Media Team.
“I hope that all the twenty-three players will be here at least on Monday.
“Some of them are playing on Sunday, travelling on Monday to Abuja then to Lagos, they can only arrive on Tuesday, so really only two days of preparations.”
The Super Eagles top their qualifying group with six points claiming victories over the Benin Republic and Lesotho.
And Rohr is confident that the Nigerian senior national team will still find the conditions right to secure another win over Sierra Leone.
“It’s Wednesday and Thursday in good conditions, and I hope the grass will be okay in Benin City, I see that it’s a new stadium, but the most important for the players is to have a good grass and then to see a good football game,” Rohr added.
“We want to give joy to Nigerians in this very special period, and we want to be happy with a good win next Friday.”
England-based Semi Ajayi, Alex Iwobi, and William Troost-Ekong and Spain-based Kelechi Nwakali and Samuel Chukwueze are among the players expected to report to camp in Benin City ahead of the Afcon qualifiers.
