Mikel pulls out of Seychelles match with Rohr set to name Onyekuru, Mohammed, Aina and Samuel in squad tomorrow

SUPER Eagles skipper Mikel Obi has pulled out of Nigeria's forthcoming African Nations Cup qualifier against Seychelles just a day before head coach Gernot Rohr is due to announce his list on invitees that is expected to include new faces Samuel Kalu and Mohammed Musa.

On September 7, Nigeria is due to face Seychelles away in the capital Victoria but reeling from a combination of injuries and retirement from international football, Rohr has to come up with a squad list. Chelsea wingback Victor Moses has announced he is quitting the national team and Mikel called the manager to excuse himself from the crucial game, citing the fact that he had not fully regained the required fitness level needed to play in such a match.

Also, fullbacks Tyronne Ebuehi and Shehu Abdullahi are injured, so Rohr is said to be considering calling up former Golden Eaglets skipper Mohammed Musa to compete for that position. New Bordeaux signing Samuel Kalu, Torino loanee Ola Aina, Galatasaray's Henry Onyekuru and Hibernian centreback Efe Ambrose, are all also said to be under consideration for call-ups.

Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) officials have confirmed that Rohr will release his list of invited players tomorrow. According to reports in Sporting Life and The Nation, Mikel is said to have also rang the NFF president Amaju Pinnick, to inform him about the fact that he is just returning from injury and as such would not be fit enough to prosecute the Seychelles game.

Having lost their opening qualifier to South Africa at home to Uyo, the Eagles now have to step up their game over the forthcoming matches to make the Nations Cup. After playing Seychelles next month, the team will face Libya home and away on October 10 and 13 before flying to South Africa for the return against the Bafana Bafana on November 17 and then hosting Seychelles on March 22, 2019.

According to NFF sources, Rohr will respect Victor Moses' decision to retire from international football for now although he looks to convince the player to return to the fold for future games. For the Seychelles match, Levante new boy Moses Simon Samuel Kalu are being considered as starters in place of Moses.