Eguavoen plans to make wholesale changes to the team that will face Guinea-Bissau

SUPER Eagles head coach Augustine Eguavoen plans to make wholesale changes to the team ahead of Wednesday's third group game against Guinea-Bissau resting many of the players he has used so far and allowing those on the sidelines to get some game time.

Nigeria has coasted to the top of Group D in the ongoing African Cup of Nations with easy victories against Egypt and Sudan, securing maximum points in both matches. On Wednesday, the team, will face Guinea-Bissau and interim coach Eguavoen is planning to use that game to give playing tome to members of the squad yet to see any action.

In the two games so far, Mr Eguavoen has started with the same line-up, sticking to his 4-2-4 formation despite some of its limitations. So far, the Eagles have scored four goals and conceded one but Eguavoen is not pleased with his side’s wastefulness in front of goal, so will be keen to see if the changes he makes upfront pay dividends.

Mr Eguavoen said: “Sometimes scoring goals is still a problem. It’s in the goal area that we have missed a lot of chances.

"We are not clinical enough in front of goal as we missed a couple of sitters in the games we’ve played. We gave Sudan some chances to score.”

With knockout stage qualification in the bag, Mr Eguavoen, nicknamed Cerezo, said he is now ready to bring in fresh faces against the Bissau-Guineans. He added that he stick to his starting line-up because he did not have enough time to try out all his players before the tournament kicked off.

“I didn’t want to take the risk, which was why I retained the same starting line-up. Coaching of this team started on January 6 and it was difficult to take the risk because it was better to play with a team that has been together for some time.

 “We banked on players that knew themselves. Everybody in this team has a chance to play in this tournament, so with qualification secured, we will be giving some players the opportunity to play in the next game,” Mr Eguavoen added.

Players like Peter Olayinka, Henry Onyekuru, Francis Uzoho, John Noble, Daniel Akpeyi, Tyronne Ebuehi, Frank Onyeka, Jamilu Collins and Olisa Ndah are yet to make an appearance in the tournament. Most of them are now likely to see action on Wednesday against Guinea-Bissau's Djurtus or African Wild Dogs.

Meanwhile, the players will receive $10,000 each for the victories over Egypt and Sudan after the Nigeria Football Federation and the Eagles reached an agreement on wining bonuses. Both sides have agreed that the players will be paid $5000 for a win and $2,500 for a draw.