'All The 23 Players Participated In Training' - Rohr Suggests Mikel Is Available For Selection Vs RSA

Super Eagles coach Gernot Rohr has suggested that John Obi Mikel is available for selection when his side battle South Africa in an Africa Cup of Nations quarterfinal clash in Cairo on Wednesday evening.

The former Chelsea midfielder sat out the round of 16 match against Cameroon after failing to recover from a knee injury he suffered in the 2-0 loss to Madagascar nine days ago.

As far as injuries are concerned, Rohr stated at Tuesday's press conference that every single player trained in the penultimate workout on Monday, meaning the likes of Mikel, Jamilu Collins and Abdullahi Shehu can be called upon to face Bafana Bafana.

Injury or no injury, the Super Eagles captain is believed to be behind Arsenal's Alex Iwobi in the pecking order of playmakers while Oghenekaro Etebo and Wilfred Ndidi are the preferred defensive midfielders.

Providing an injury update, Rohr said : ''Now our offensive department is on a good level, we had some players who were injured, who did not have so many matches to play, who were fasting, who were sick.

''The preparation was not easy but now it is the first time yesterday in the training session that we had 23 players participating.

''Everybody is fit now so it will be very difficult for me to select the team.''

Mikel earned his 89th Nigeria cap in the 2-0 loss to Madagascar on June 30 and made way for Alex Iwobi 14 minutes into the second half.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel