Rohr says he will pick exceptional talent from the U17 team as he awaits Nations Cup draw tonight

SUPER Eagles head coach Gernot Rohr has said he may take one or two members of the current Golden Eaglets squad to the 2019 African Cup of Nations taking place in Egypt this summer  if any of them proves to be good enough for the team.

Later on today, the Confederation of African Football (Caf) will be holding the draw for the Nations Cup with Nigeria drawn in Pot A alongside Cameroon, Senegal, Tunisia, Morocco and Egypt. Nigeria cannot meet any of these teams in the group stage but will certainly face one of the teams from Pot B which includes Ghana, Ivory Coast, Mali, Algeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Guinea.

Pot C includes South Africa, Uganda, Benin Republic, Mauritania, Madagascar and Kenya, while Pot D includes Zimbabwe, Namibia, Guinea-Bissau, Angola, Tanzania and Burundi. Nigeria will face one team from each pot in the 24-team tournament that will see the top two teams from each group and four best third-placed teams, go into the quarter-finals.

Mr Rohr, who is eagerly awaiting details of the draw, visited the U17 team which is off to Tanzania to participate in its own continental tournament. He added that he want to emulate former Super Eagles coach Clemence Westerhoff by giving U17 players the chance to stake a claim in the senior national team if they are good enough.

"We must not forget the U17s as they are the future and just like my predecessor Westerhoff who I heard picked Victor Ikpeba as a 17 year old, I will also do the same if I see any player who can play for us at this level. I will be watching them closely if not for now then maybe in the future even if am not here," Mr Rohr said.

Nigeria is among the favourites to win the African Nations Cup taking place 21 June and July 19 alongside the likes of Senegal, Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco. Cameroon, now coached by former Dutch international Clarence Seedorf, will also hoping to defend the title she won in 2017.