Eguavoen's assistant vs Ghana, Amuneke reveals why 'strong player' Etebo was replaced

Augustine Eguavoen's assistant for the back-to-back matches with Ghana last month, Emmanuel Amuneke has explained that the substitution of Oghenekaro Etebo was designed to put the Super Eagles on the front foot .

In what was his third competitive match for club and country in five months after recovering from a quad injury that required surgery, the 2016 Olympics bronze medalist made way for Ahmed Musa with twelve minutes to be played at the National Stadium in Abuja.

The trial and error substitutions made by Eguavoen did not give the Super Eagles the control they needed as they failed to breach a well organized Black Stars defence marshaled by Leicester City star Daniel Amartey.

Amuneke had kind words to say about Etebo but underlined that the change was inevitable as the Watford star was short on gas after several months on the sidelines.

In an interview with our colleague, SWAN FCT chief Bunmi Haruna and monitored by allnigeriasoccer.com, Amuneke told Nigeria Info FM : "Etebo also he was pulled out looking at the way he game is going and looking at him the way he was playing.

"Of course the two players (Onyeka and Etebo) gave their very best. Etebo, we all know how he plays.

"He's a very strong player but unfortunately that day he did the best he could and then we felt it's necessary bringing in new players that are fresh, can boost up the offensive aspect of the game" .