'Without Osimhen, Lookman' - Russia boss Karpin dismisses second team talk ahead of Nigeria friendly

Russia manager Valery Karpin has brushed aside suggestions that Nigeria is fielding a weakened squad for their upcoming friendly, despite the absence of star players Victor Osimhen and Ademola Lookman.

Osimhen and Lookman have not been selected in the Super Eagles squad for the friendly in Moscow on June 6, with coach Eric Chelle stating that he wanted to give other players a chance to prove themselves.

With both marquee attackers likely to change clubs this summer, they may have been deliberately left out of the May and June internationals to prevent any potential injuries.

Fulham duo Alex Iwobi and Calvin Bassey, also part of Nigeria's ideal starting lineup, will also miss the friendly next week after a demanding season in which they made a combined 81 appearances.

Karpin has insisted that the three-time African champions remain a strong team regardless of missing key players.

Speaking to Komsomolskaya Pravda, Karpin said: "It doesn’t change our preparation at all. Without Osimhen and Lukman, there will be other equally good footballers. 

"Now there are many media outlets, bloggers, internet broadcasts… They write: “Nigeria is bringing a second team” only because two leaders didn’t come."

The Russian coach was quick to point out that his own squad is also without several key names. 

"Then we can also say that we are bringing a second team. We don’t have Golovin, we don’t have Zakharyan. Golovin, Zakharyan, Barinov, Diveev were not in the match with Zambia. 

"These are our main players, our stars. Safonov was not there. But no one is talking about this," Karpin added.

Karpin revealed that he is looking forward to facing top Super Eagles players like Sevilla forward  Kelechi Iheanacho and Bayer Leverkusen striker Victor Boniface, but admitted he'd have preferred Osimhen and Lookman to test his squad.

"Of course. I repeat, I would like to have both Osimhen and Lookman to test our team against the best players. 

"But their absence certainly does not make Nigeria fundamentally weaker."

Ifeanyi Emmanuel

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