Super Eagles midfielder, Wilfred Ndidi has been ruled out of this month’s African Cup of Nations (AFCON).
Gatekeepers News reports that Super Eagles media officer, Babafemi Raji in a statement on Wednesday announced that the Leicester City midfielder will be replaced on the team by Alhassan Yusuf.
On New Year Day, Ndidi missed The Foxes’ 4-1 home win over Huddersfield Town. Kelechi Iheanacho was also not present for the match.
After the match, Leicester City manager, Enzo Maresca revealed that the duo suffered knocks, but did not give a stipulated timeline for their injuries or rule them out of AFCON.
Meanwhile, 23-year-old Yusuf, who plays for Royal Antwerp has been tapped as Ndidi’s replacement, and included in the 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 Eagles players ruled out of AFCON by injury. In November, Awoniyi was ruled out of the tournament due to a groin injury.
In preparation for the AFCON, the Super Eagles are camped in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE), for a one-week training camp before flying back to Lagos on January 9 and proceeding to Ivory Coast a day later.
The Super Eagles are in Group A alongside Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea and Guinea-Bissau.
The tournament will kick off on January 13.
