Eagles Facing Right Back Crisis Pre-Seychelles: Chelsea Loanee Pulls Out Of Squad, Replacements Inactive

Published: September 03, 2018

Ola Aina will certainly not make his full competitive debut for the Super Eagles when they take on Seychelles in a 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier this coming Saturday, September 8.

The Chelsea loanee has pulled out of the squad after suffering an injury in Torino's 1-0 win against SPAL on Sunday evening, a game in which he made his full debut for The Maroons in the Italian topflight.

Aina was due to link up with international teammates on Tuesday, September 4 at Savoy Hotel Resort and Spa, Victoria ahead of the Super Eagles first workout.

Torino inform via their official website that initial tests carried out by club medics reveal that the fullback sustained a small muscular problem to the biceps femoris of the left thigh against SPAL and will undergo further tests in the coming days to ascertain the number of days he would spend on the sidelines.

Nigeria manager Gernot Rohr is facing a crisis at right-back ahead of the showdown at Stade Linité (Roche Caïman) as Bursapor's Abdullahi Shehu and Benfica's Tyronne Ebuehi were earlier ruled out of the tie due to injuries.

It was a foregone conclusion that Aina would have started his first game for the Super Eagles this weekend as a result of the unavailability of the two players that were picked in the 23-man World Cup squad ahead of him.

Though Brian Idowu, Chidozie Awaziem and Kenneth Omeruo can be deployed as right backs, the trio have been inactive for their respective clubs in the new season.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel