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By Emmanuel Adeleke
Super Eagles midfielder, Wilfred Ndidi, has been ruled out of this month’s African Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Ivory Coast.
The team’s media officer, Babafemi Raji, disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday.
He said the Leicester City midfielder will be replaced in the team by Alhassan Yusuf.
Ndidi missed Leicester City’s 4-1 home win over Huddersfield Town on New Year’s Day. Kelechi Iheanacho was also unavailable for the match.
After the match, Leicester City manager, Enzo Maresca, revealed that the duo suffered knocks, but he did not give a stipulated timeline for their injuries or rule them out of AFCON.
Yusuf plays for Royal Antwerp and has been tipped as Ndidi’s replacement. The 23-year-old was included in the Super Eagles 40-man provisional squad for the competition.
The Super Eagles media officer added that Iheanacho is still hopeful to join the team for the tournament in Ivory Coast.
Ndidi joins Taiwo Awoniyi on the list of players ruled out of AFCON by injury. Awoniyi was ruled out of the tournament due to a groin injury.
In preparation for AFCON, the Super Eagles are in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE), for a one-week training camp before flying to Ivory Coast on January 9.
Nigeria is in Group A alongside host nation, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea and Guinea-Bissau.
Nigeria will take on Equatorial Guinea in their opening game before facing Ivory Coast and rounding off the group stage with the Guinea-Bissau tie.
The competition kicks off on January 13.