Midfielder Wilfred Ndidi has withdrawn from Nigeria’s squad for the Africa Cup of Nations through injury and been replaced by Belgian-based Alhassan Yusuf, the country's football federation said on Wednesday.
Ndidi, 27, was injured during his club Leicester City’s 2-0 win at Cardiff City on Friday, though details of the injury were not made clear by either his club or Nigeria.
Leicester teammate Kelechi Iheanacho is also struggling with injury but was still being assessed at Nigeria’s training camp in Abu Dhabi, the federation added.
Iheanacho, also 27, had missed the last two matches for his club, who are runaway leaders in the Championship in England.
The 23-year-old Yusuf is uncapped but helped Royal Antwerp to the Belgian league title last season and competed in all their Uefa Champions League group matches between September and December.
Nigeria open their Cup of Nations campaign with a Group A game against Equatorial Guinea on January 14. They also meet hosts Ivory Coast and Guinea Bissau in their group matches.
Reuters
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