Eguavoen reacts to Rwandan loss by saying Dessers might be the answer to the problem

STAND-IN Super Eagles coach Augustine Eguavoen has reacted to the team's recent defeat by Rwanda in an African Cup of Nations qualifier by stating that Glasgow Rangers striker Cyriel Dessers night be invited for future matches to give the team more bite.

Yesterday, Mr Eguavoen rested several key players, allowing Ademola Lookman to return to his club and keeping Victor Osimhen and Samuel Chukwueze on the bench. However, some of the players who started in their place like Victor Boniface and Kelechi Iheanacho failed to measure up to standard, leading Eguavoen to hint that they will be dropped from future matches.

Nigeria will face Rwanda again in March when the two teams clash in back-to-back World Cup qualifiers and coach Eguavoen, who may or not still be in charge of the team then, has suggested that Dessers will end his international exile for Nigeria come next year. Dessers has not played for Nigeria since March this year and even the likes of Real Sociedad forward  Umar Sadiq, who has not scored a single goal this season has been called up, ahead of Cyril who has hit double figures.

With regards to Boniface, despite his success with his club Bayern Leverkusen, the striker has struggled to impress for the Nigerian national team. Against Rwanda, he had an awful game, mustering just a shot on target in 90 minutes, prompting calls from fans for him to be dropped.

However, Eguavoen explained: "For this camp, I had to stick with the players I know. It will be difficult to play those I have not worked with previously because of the short time to prepare for these matches.

"We have had only three, four days for these matches, so the time is not there to look closer at new players. However, I want to improve our large pool of players so that we could have capable replacements.

"We should be patient, as when we have friendlies, we will try to bring some new players like Cyriel Dessers and Chuba Akpom and work with them. I know Nigerians love this game so much but sometimes we’re not patient."

Dessers has won six caps for Nigeria and scored two goals, in friendlies against Mexico and Ghana. His return for the eagles is far higher than that of the likes of Boniface and Umar but it remains to be seen what will happen in March, especially it is uncertain who will be managing the Eagles by then.

Nigeria suffered a shock 1-2 loss to Rwanda at home last night succumbing to two late goals at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium. Although the result did not affect qualification, it was considered a very bad outcome as it will provide the Rwandans with a lot of confidence going into the March World Cup qualifiers.