Nigeria will return to action in the African Nations Championships playoff this weekend, a crucial leg of the qualifier against Ghana after a 2-0 first-leg defeat.
The B Eagles will have the arduous task of overturning the two-goal deficit, but the challenge also includes the team will be without a key player.
Speaking in the build up to Saturday’s game at the MKO Abiola Stadium, head Coach Salisu Yusuf insists the players have moved past the disappointing outcome in Cape Coast.
“What is past is past and that is the case with the match we played in Ghana. Now we are looking forward to a good match on Saturday,” Yusuf said.
“We are doing all we need to do to achieve our utmost desire to be in Algeria next year.
“There may have been one or two lapses that caught us on the bad end in Cape Coast but we can’t continue to dwell on that. We want to achieve a good result on Saturday.”
Yusuf, who is on a very familiar terrain, says that the team that will go out on Saturday may not be radically different from the line-up he featured in the first leg.
Yusuf also gave an update on the matchday squad, revealing there will be a shuffle to the team from the first-leg.
“It is going to be more like 88 to 90 percent of the team we presented in Ghana last Sunday.
“Remember that Sadiq Abubakar was injured in a moment we thought should have produced a penalty kick for us. He has not recovered fully and so may not feature.”
