Super Eagles head coach, Eric Chelle, has stated he wants his players to focus on the game against Rwanda on Saturday and not the rest of the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers, www.aclspsorts.com reports.
Nigeria, already behind leaders South Africa on the standings before this match day, will host the Amavubi at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium before traveling to face the Bafana Bafana in South Africa on Tuesday.
Speaking to newsmen in the pre-match conference on Friday evening, Chelle stressed the importance of focus, as the side can only take care of the task at hand before the ones ahead.
“This is only about the Rwanda game,” Chelle began in his presser.
“We have a good team coming to Uyo tomorrow. They also have a good technical staff. For us, we are ready with our game plan. I want my players to be focused on just this game, and not the World Cup Qualifiers as a whole. We need to talk about the game here, and we need to win this game. After this, we will see what happens.”
On what his selection might look like on Saturday, Chelle responded: “When you prepare for a game, the other coaches and I watch a lot of matches, and before the game, we will decide the team that will play. I can change my mind at the last moment, and it depends on what I see and how I feel.”
On the inclusion of CAF Footballer of the Year, Ademola Lookman, in the squad despite being without game time at Atalanta, Chelle defended his forward, stressing it was impossible to have left him out.
“About Lookman, can we do a list without the best player in Africa? This is my job to do. If he can play, maybe five minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 50 minutes, or even 60 minutes. So, I cannot make a list without him. I trust him, and I have so much confidence in him. After this final training session, I have a lot of responsibilities to do. This is my job, and we will see tomorrow.”
On his part, Skipper William Troost-Ekong also spoke about the readiness of the squad for the challenge at hand.
“We have had a series of meetings, and talked about the importance of the game tomorrow. We know what to do, we have worked and prepared the right way, and you get confidence from good preparation. All that is left for us is to do the talking on the pitch tomorrow.”
Nigeria fell further behind on the standings on Friday after Benin and South Africa claimed wins over Zimbabwe and Lesotho, respectively. Meanwhile, the Nigeria v Rwanda clash has been scheduled to kick-off by 5pm on Saturday.
