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CD Leganes of Spain defender, Kenneth Omeruo is among a trio of highly-rated Nigerian centre backs that need to prove they are match fit ahead of Friday’s clash with Ghana, megasportsarena.com reports.
Omeruo joins Watford of England stopper, William Troost-Ekong and Glasgow Rangers of Scotland centre back, Leon Aderemi Balogun on the roll call of men in the heart of Nigeria’s defence with fitness issues hanging round them.
That is sequel to their recent battles with injuries, such that Eagles’ interim coach, Augustine Eguavoen will have to thread softly before deciding the two stars he will pair to man Nigeria’s central defence at Baba Yara Stadium in Kumasi, Ghana.
This comes against the backdrop of reports that Omeruo had earlier been rated doubtful for both upcoming World Cup qualification play-off games versus Ghana, due to an adductor injury he recently copped.
Before reporting for national duty, Omeruo participated in two training sessions with his clubmates last week and was included in the matchday squad for last weekend’s game versus Sporting Gijon after a fitness test.
The 28-year-old Omeruo, who faces competition from Leon Balogun, Semi Ajayi and Calvin Bassey for a spot at center back, is Nigeria’s second most experienced player in the current squad, with 58 international appearances to his name.
However, the veteran from Nigeria’s 2013 Africa Cup of Nations winning team has not played competitively for over a month and he would be lacking match fitness heading into Friday’s game.
A similar halo is hanging over Troost-Ekong, who was Omeruo’s central defence partner at AFCON 2021, as he has been inactive for Watford since going the distance against Tottenham Hotspur on January 1st.
Omeruo, Troost-Ekong and all other stoppers in the squad will now aim to outdo one another, as they commenced training on Tuesday, led by skipper of the side and Nigeria’s most capped player ever, Ahmed Musa.
They were all on their toes and primed to explode, as Eguavoen started his technical build-up for Friday’s match with their first training session at the camp in Abuja, from where they are expected to fly out to Ghana on Thursday.
A single training session has been scheduled to take place at the match venue in Kumasi on Thursday, barely 24 hours to kick-off in the first leg cracker, after which both sides will head to Abuja for the second lap and the overall winner qualifiers for Qatar 2022 World Cup.
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