Former Nigeria interim boss Augustine Eguavoen has underlined that Wilfred Ndidi is as important to the Super Eagles as Thomas Partey is to the Black Stars.
The Leicester City midfielder was originally named on the Nigeria squad for the back-to-back games against Ghana last month but was forced to withdraw from the roster after suffering a knee injury in a Europa Conference League round of 16 tie at Rennes on March 17, eight days before the first leg World Cup playoff in Kumasi.
Prior to the meetings with Ghana, the Super Eagles had managed only two wins in ten games Ndidi was not available for selection and that has now increased to two in fourteen after the recent draws.
Nigeria had personnel issues in the central midfield position for the second leg, with Ndidi’s replacement, Innocent Bonke ruled out after suffering an injury in Kumasi and during the game in Abuja, Frank Onyeka had to be replaced at halftime due to injury, while Oghenekaro Etebo was not in tiptop condition after spending five months on the sidelines.
“Imagine a Ghana without a Partey. Losing Ndidi was first of all a problem and then we make amends by bringing in Bonke who is a ball winner and then he got injured as well,” Eguavoen said on SuperSport’s Monday Night Football monitored by allnigeriasoccer.com.
“Onyeka was also on top of his game, also got injured so he had a bit of a problem.
“Etebo, who’s just coming back from injury, played well in Kumasi when he came in but he only had to give us his best for the first sixty minutes.
“If you look at the bench now who would have come in? It’s just to change formation within the players. At 1-1 we needed to get that one goal but it just didn’t happen.”
Ndidi has undergone surgery and won’t play competitively for Leicester City until the start of the 2022-2023 season.