Roster changes : NFF call up quartet of replacements for Shehu, Osimhen, Balogun, Dennis

Published: December 31, 2021

The Nigeria Football Federation have made changes to the Super Eagles 2021 Africa Cup of Nations squad, calling up a quartet of replacements for four unavailable players.

Omonia Nicosia right-back Shehu Abdullahi, Napoli striker Victor Osimhen, Glasgow Rangers central defender Leon Balogun and Watford striker Emmanuel Dennis have been ruled out of the tournament in Cameroon due to a combination of injuries, Covid and non-release by their European clubs.

The Nigeria Football Federation have waved a white flag by allowing Premier League strugglers Watford to hold on to their star player Dennis and he has been replaced on the roster by Slavia Prague's Peter Olayinka.

Balogun has failed to recover from an undisclosed injury he suffered in a Premier Sports Cup clash against Hibernian on November 21 and as a result West Brom central defender Semi Ajayi has been summoned to join the squad.

As for Osimhen, he will not lead the Super Eagles attack at the Africa Cup of Nations after testing positive for coronavirus this week and his spot has been taken by Olympiakos winger Henry Onyekuru.

Shehu, who suffered an injury in Omonia Nicosia's 4-2 loss to APOEL in the derby on Boxing Day, has been replaced by Benfica-owned fullback Tyronne Ebuehi.

Six roster invitees namely goalkeepers John Noble and Daniel Akpeyi, Chidera Ejuke, Olisa Ndah, Umar Saiq and Taiwo Awoniyi have already reported for international duty in Abuja ahead of the Super Eagles' trip to Cameroon next week.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel

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