2019 AFCON Qualifiers: Eagles Handed Injury Boost As Key Midfielder Returns To Full Training

Published: August 09, 2018

Nigeria have been handed an injury boost ahead of next month's 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Seychelles, with influential midfielder John Obi Mikel returning to training, allnigeriasoccer.com reports.

The Tianjin Teda number ten has returned to full training after overcoming a knee injury, ahead of tomorrow's Chinese Super League match against Henan Jianye and he trained without any discomfort.

Mikel has not played for Tianjin Teda since their 2-1 loss to CQ Dangdai Lifan on July 21 in which he lasted the distance.

Despite proving his fitness, the Nigeria captain is not guaranteed an automatic spot in the starting lineup for the next game following the return of Brazilian striker Johnathan, who had been suspended earlier.

Frank Acheampong (Ghana) and Felix Bastians (Germany) are the other foreigners on the Tianjin Teda roster.

Manager Uli Stielike has an interesting decision to make as to which of the foreigners will be fielded against Henan Jianye as Chinese Super League rules stipulate that teams can use three foreign players at most in a match, and the number of foreign players on-field in one match must be no more than the number of U23 domestic players.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel