Reuben dropped, Ike Uche cleared
Reuben in Eagles action
Kano Pillars midfielder Reuben is nursing a groin injury, which he picked up in the Federation Cup and which relapsed during training with the national team in Abuja.
Reuben, a box-to-box defensive midfielder whose transfer to Belgium was recently scuttled, has become a key player in Stephen Keshi’s team since December.
A top team official has confirmed that Reuben has been dropped for the Nations Cup qualifier in Monrovia.
"Reuben was not looking too good and has now been dropped from the team," stated the official.
The other players dropped were Reuben's Pillars teammate Umar Zango and Gombe United striker Sanusi Sani.
In the same vein, Keshi has confirmed that Ikechukwu Uche is fully fit for the Liberia game.
"IK is good. As you could see he was in the training fully. He didn't come out for the last training because he needed some extra rest. Outside of Rueben we are injury-free in this team," he assured.
In Reuben’s absence, Celtic of Scotland defender Efe Ambrose may get a new role this weekend as defensive midfielder in Liberia.
Keshi is now considering the versatile Ambrose for the Eagles holding midfielder position, which he has played for the Olympic team.
In the same vein, Keshi has confirmed that Ikechukwu Uche is fully fit for the Liberia game.
"IK is good. As you could see he was in the training fully. He didn't come out for the last training because he needed some extra rest. Outside of Rueben we are injury-free in this team," he assured.
In Reuben’s absence, Celtic of Scotland defender Efe Ambrose may get a new role this weekend as defensive midfielder in Liberia.
Keshi is now considering the versatile Ambrose for the Eagles holding midfielder position, which he has played for the Olympic team.
Ambrose is not a make-shift midfielder, and has played the position at club and Olympic level. Besides, we also have Obiora Nwankwo in camp ,who, incidentally is the captain of the last Olympic team. He's quite a very good defensive midfielder too and actually played in that position in the recent match against Malawi in Calabar.
I wonder why Keshi will only depend on Reuben for this position when we have plethora of stars that could hold this position. Mikel is already a force in this department and we have Dickson Etuhu who could hold forte. I only hope using a makeshift Efe Ambrose won't expose that dept to the Lone Stars.
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