Rohr says Victor Moses was not invited for Seychelles and Egypt games because he has not ended his international retirement

SUPER Eagles head coach Gernot Rohr has revealed that Chelsea winger Victor Moses was not invited to camp for the forthcoming games against Seychelles and Egypt because he is yet to reverse his decision to retire from international football.

Nigeria will play her the final 2019 African Cup of Nations qualifier against Seychelles on March 22 and then four days later the Eagles will face Egypt in a friendly match on March 26. Coach Rohr has invited 23 players to camp top prosecute both games but three conspicuous names missing from the list include skipper Mikel Obi, Leicester City's Kelechi Iheanacho and Victor Moses.

Mr Rohr has decided there is no need to stress team captain Mikel as he needs time to settle down at his new club Middlesboro after recently joining the English Championship side from Tiajin Teda in China. Also left out of the squad is embattled Leicester City forward Kelechi Iheanacho, who has been struggling to maintain a regular place at the King Power Stadium this season.

After last summer's World Cup in January, Moses, 27, announced his retirement from international football, saying he now wants to focus on his Chelsea career and his young family. Since then, however, he has moved on loan to Turkish side Fernebahce on loan and is now seeing regular action which eluded him while he was at Chelsea.

Talks had been going on behind the scene to get Moses to return to the Super Eagles fold and it had been thought he changed his mind but according to Mr Rohr, the player is yet to reverse his decision. He added that as a result of this, Moses could not be invited to camp for the two games taking place later this month.

Mr Rohr said: "I was against his international retirement and if he changed his mind, he must tell me but I have no information about it. We’ll see.

"As per Mikel, he has arrived in Middlesbrough recently and he told me he was not ready and needs to work after his knee injury in China. He did not play all winter either, so he is not ruled out for the African Cup of Nations but could not make that match in Asaba but we will see for the future."

He has defended his decision to hand maiden call-ups to striker Paul Onuachu and defender Valentine Ozornwafor for the upcoming games. According to Mr Rohr, the invitation of the FC Midtjylland striker was a good public relations move as several Super Eagles fans wanted him in the team thanks to his rich vein of scoring form in Denmark, while the Enyimba defender was one of the players who shone for the Flying Eagles as they qualified for the 2019 World Cup.