Iwobi, Aina and Ekong pull out of this weekend's Nations Cup qualifier against Seychelles with injuries

NIGERIA'S Super Eagles squad due to face Seychelles in an African Nations Cup qualifier this weekend has been further depleted with the withdrawal of key players William Ekong, Alex Iwobi and Ola Aina who have pulled out with injuries.

On September 7, Nigeria is due to face Seychelles away in the capital Victoria and so far the team is suffering from a series of injuries as skipper Mikel Obi and fullbacks Tyronne Ebuehi and Shehu Abdullahi have all pulled out. Things have been compounded further with Victor Moses' retirement from international football and yesterday, Torino's Ola Aina, Udinese's William Ekong and Arsenal's Alex Iwobi all said they are unable to make camp because of illness or injury.

Aina pulled out of after sustaining a muscular injury during a league match over the weekend, while Iwobi is unwell and was not even on the bench for Arsenal's 3-2 victory over Cardiff City over the weekend. Ekong has also informed the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) that he will be unable to feature in the match after picking up a knock in the weekend's 0-1 loss to Fiorentina.

Super Eagles head coach Gernot Rohr may now decide to invite NK Gorica of Croatia right back Musa Mohammed who was placed on standby for the match. It is not clear if he will invite another centreback to replace Ekong or stick with the trio of Leon Balogun, Chigozie Awaziem and Kenneth Omeruo, who are likely to start.

Meanwhile new invitee left fullback Jamilu Collins has said he will be available to play despite picking up a knock over the weekend in a league match for his German club Paderborn. In that match, Paderborn were held to a 2-2 draw by Bochum in a second division game and Collins was substituted with six minutes left with what looked like a serious knee injury.

However, the player revealed the injury is not as serious as initially feared and he has already received the all clear to join the Super Eagles in Seychelles. He even confirmed he will depart for Seychelles yesterday from his base in Germany and is expect to arrive there today ahead of Saturday's game.

Collins said: "It’s nothing serious. I feared the worst when it happened but I was delighted when the doctors told me it’s nothing to be worried about and I’m fully fit and ready to play if called upon.

"I will leave Germany later today and hopefully arrive Seychelles on Tuesday. The honour of playing for Nigeria is something I’m excited about and I can’t wait to adorn the Super Eagles jersey."

So far, the Eagles camp has been empty with only Henry Onyekuru and Ikechukwu Ezenwa being the early arrivals. However, the numbers are expected to swell later today as most of the players who featured over the weekend left their bases either yesterday or will do so today.