Sunday Oliseh Says He Will Not Close The Door On Mikel Yet

In his post - match comments immediately after Nigeria beat Niger 2 - 0 in an international friendly on Tuesday afternoon, coach Sunday Oliseh has hinted that he will not invite John Obi Mikel to the national team if he keeps sitting on the bench.

The Nigeria manager omitted the Chelsea midfielder from his squad list announced for the Afcon qualifier against Tanzania and today’s friendly after he claimed he was not able to speak to the player whilst in England on a scouting trip.

Asked if there’s still room for Mikel Obi and Victor Moses, Oliseh replied Supersport TV :“Yes there is room for everybody, all I am just asking them is we need them to have playing time.

“Like you see today everybody who played for Nigeria played for their respective clubs and at the same time they are showing the hunger.

“And the ones who played today have started picking up points, so obviously those coming will have to fight to get into the team but that’s what we want for Nigeria.  ”

John Obi Mikel has had only 6 minutes of game time so far this season from a possible 540 minutes.