'He deserves to be here' - Awoniyi feels bad fellow Super Eagles striker cannot help Nigeria at AFCON

These circumstances have opened the door for Awoniyi to climb up the pecking order of Super Eagles center forwards and he now has a better opportunity of making the starting lineup.

Osimhen was Nigeria's leading marksman in World Cup and Africa Cup of Nations qualifying, scoring nine goals combined.

"To be honest for me I feel really bad that Victor is not here with us because he did a lot of work for the country during the World Cup and Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers in scoring the goals and putting in the shift," Awoniyi said.

"For him not to be in the tournament proper I think it's something he will feel bad himself and not for him to be here is something I feel bad about because I think he deserves to be here for sure."

The 2013 U17 World Cup is having an outstanding season at Union Berlin, notching nine goals in seventeen appearances in the German Bundesliga, a tally bettered only by Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski (19), Bayer Leverkusen's Patrik Schick (16), Borussia Dortmund's Erling Haaland (13) and Cologne's Anthony Modeste (11).

On the number of goals he is anticipating to score at the Africa Cup of Nations, Awoniyi said : "For me I'm not the one that set targets in terms of saying I am going to do this.

"I think it's about getting set for each game, putting in the shift and let us see how it goes at the end".