Nigeria manager, Gernot Rohr, has bemoaned the absence of Rangers star, Joe Aribo, and several other key players ahead of the Super Eagles’ friendly against Algeria on Friday, as quoted by Allnigeriasoccer.com.
Aribo has been out of action for almost two months with an ankle injury, with his last appearance coming in the third Premiership fixture of the season against St Johnstone.
He was spotted stepping up his recovery in the gym recently with Kemar Roofe but is facing a race to be fit enough to feature against Celtic next weekend.
His absence isn’t only causing headaches for Steven Gerrard, though.
Nigeria are back in action on Friday for the first time since the footballing shutdown and the 24-year-old is one of several midfielders unavailable for selection, much to the disappointment of Rohr.
“The absence of our three defensive midfielders – great players – we miss [Wilfred] Ndidi, we miss Aribo, two of the best players in the last game, even scoring goals, one left foot, one right foot, fast, strong, everything was okay,” he said, as quoted by Allnigeriasoccer.com. ‘And also [Oghenekaro] Etebo is missing in the last moment, so we miss three.”
“We have different possibilities, it will not be the same without Ndidi, Aribo, Etebo or Alex but it’s an opportunity to test new organizations.”
Nigeria boss rues absence of Rangers star Joe Aribo – Verdict
It’s no surprise that Rohr is disappointed to be without Joe Aribo, given his impressive start to life as a senior international.
The Gers midfielder scored on his debut against Ukraine before also netting in his second appearance against a star-studded Brazil team.
Since then, he’s gone on to contribute to victories in Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, most recently in November last year in a 4-2 win over Lesotho, which Rohr alluded to in his comments.
The Super Eagles manager does have one Ger to call upon against Algeria, though. Leon Balogun has shrugged off his own injury problems and is available for selection for the friendly in Austria.
