Super Eagles manager Gernot Rohr may once again be forced to recall one of his standby players after it was revealed that Alex Iwobi is struggling with a muscle strain.
Nigeria face Zambia in a key World Cup qualifier in Uyo on October 7.
Standard Sport reported on Wednesday that Iwobi did not train on Wednesday and did not travel with the Arsenal squad that will face Bate Borisov in Thursday night’s UEFA Europa League tie.
Iwobi was injured and missed Nigeria’s World Cup qualifiers against Cameroon in early September with Aaron Samuel drafted in to replace the Arsenal star who scored in the reverse fixture in Ndola.
The same injury has returned and Iwobi no faces a race to be fit for next week’s World Cup qualifiers against Zambia in which a win will guarantee the Super Eagles a place in Russia.
Nigeria lead African qualifying Group B with 10 points to Zambia’s seven, while Algeria and Cameroon are out of the race.
Dropped Omeruo Has Failed To Improve Since 2013 - Babayaro
The decision by coach of the Super Eagles of Nigeria Gernot Rohr to drop on loan Chelsea defender Kenneth Omeruo from the list of players for their upcoming World Cup 2018 Qualifiers clash against Zambia has been backed by Emmanuel Babayaro.
Omeruo was placed on standby by the manager when his list for the Eagles last game against Cameroon was released , but this time around his name was conspicuously missing from the squad entirely.
Rohr appears to have settled for Leon Balogun and William Troost-Ekong as his preferred choice in central defence, while Nantes of France defender Chidozie Awaziem is slowly being groomed as their understudy.
” Rohr is right in dropping Omeruo, he hasn’t improved since 2013. He is still same old Omeruo, and that for now is not good enough for the team of Rohr”, Babayaro told Owngoalnigeria.com.
” The boy from Porto has since moved from the B team to Nantes of France, where he is a regular, now that’s growth. Since Omeruo made his debut for the national team what has changed in his club fortune?.
