Football
Dami Ugbane, Special to ESPN 6y

Super Eagles hit by player withdrawals, Iwobi to miss Seychelles bout

Nigeria have been hit with a series of player withdrawals ahead of their Africa Cup of Nations against the Seychelles on Saturday, with William Troost-Ekong, Alex Iwobi and Ola Aina all set to miss the trip.

Troost-Ekong of Udinese sustained an injury in the Serie A encounter at Fiorentina, and while he managed to complete the match, he's been ruled out of the Super Eagles' qualifier.

Torino's wing-back Aina was taken off with a suspected muscular problem with four minutes to go in his side's home win against SPAL, while Iwobi was omitted from the Arsenal matchday squad that travelled to face Cardiff City on account of illness.

Troost-Ekong's unavailability for the crucial qualifier means his impressive run of 21 successive Super Eagles appearances stretching back to May 2016 comes to an end, and his absence will necessitate a defensive reshuffle from Rohr.

Kenneth Omeruo should step into the heart of the defence, while Jamilu Collins could be an option to make his debut at left-back despite limping off for Paderborn with injury at the weekend.

The NFF are yet to confirm whether any of the players on the stand-by list will be called into replace the aforementioned trio.

18 players have currently joined the camp ahead of the weekend's clash.

Nigeria will be keen to pick up maximum points after succumbing to a home defeat by South Africa in their opening qualifier.

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