Peseiro faces leftback shortage as several players pick up injuries ahead of Saudi friendly

SUPER Eagles head coach Jose Peseiro is facing a chronic shortage of leftbacks ahead of next month's friendly as injuries have left him desperately short of options as he considers his list of invitees ahead of the game.

Nigeria's Super Eagles will be facing Saudi Arabia on Friday October 13 in the Portuguese city of Portimão and Mr Peseiro is expected to publish his list of invitees soon. However, he is facing a big problem as first choice leftback Zaidu Sanusi has been ruled out of action for a few weeks by his club  Porto.

Sanusi, 26, suffered a muscle injury to his left thigh in a Champions League encounter against Shakhtar Donetsk, ruling him out of the Saudi match. Cardiff City left-back Jamilu Collins has had his own injury issues, limiting his appearances to 12 since he joined the English Championship side in the summer of 2022 but it is not yet sure if he is back to full fitness yet.

This season, Collins has returned to the Cardiff City starting line-up and has earned rave reviews for his brilliant displays since recovering from from the ACL injury that kept him sidelined for almost the whole of last season. Collins has not played one  game for the Super Eagles since January 2022.

Also, Fulham's Calvin Bassey who can play as both a fullback and centreback, picked up an injury last night in a Carabao Cup win against Norwich City and had to be replaced in the 83rd minute. After he got injured, the match was delayed for a minute or two while Bassey receiving treatment on the pitch before being replaced.