Rohr under pressure to drop Balogun for in-form Omeruo as Eagles get set for South Africa game

SUPER Eagles head coach Gernot Rohr is under pressure to drop Brighton defender Leon Balogun and replace him with Legane's Kenneth Omeruo for the forthcoming African nations Cup qualifier against South Africa in Johannesburg.

On Saturday, Nigeria will face Bafana Bafana in the Eagles penultimate 2019 Nations Cup qualifier in which a win would guarantee qualification. Three days later, the Eagles will face the Cranes of Uganda in a friendly match in Uyo and already, the players have begun trickling into camp.

Since taking up the job as Eagles manager, Mr Rohr has used Balogun and Udinese's William Ekong as his first choice centreback pairing but is now being forced to reconsider this. While Ekong is having a superb career in Italy, even featuring in the Serie A team of the week, Balogun is struggling to get playing time at lowly Brighton in the English Premier League.

Chelsea loanee Omeruo, is also have a fine season after a slow start and is now a regular starter for Leganes in the Spanish La Liga. Rohr is thus under pressure to start with the Ekong and Omeruo pairing as playing a match rusty Balogun against South Africa might prove costly.

Already, Balogun’s form was a cause for concern for the coach in both games against Libya last month and many pointed to his lack of game time at Brighton as the reason behind the dip in his form. At Brighton and Hove Albion, Balogun, 30, is down the pecking order behind the duo of Shane Duffy and Lewis Dunk, the first choice centreback pairing of coach Chris Hughton.

So far this season, Balogun has only played two Premier League games out of a possible 12, while Omeruo has played in the last five games for Leganes since his debut against Rayo Vallecano on October 6. Nigeria's other main centreback Chiogozie Awaziem, is also struggling to get playing time at Porto in the Portuguese league.