Head coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Eric Chelle has defended the reason behind his decision to include the injured duo of Ola Aina and Felix Agu in his preliminary list of players for the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations, OwnGoalNigeria.com can exclusively reveal.
The duo are currently not expected back in action until next year per statements released by their respective clubs, but Chelle still had them in his list which was made public two days ago.
Their inclusion sparked a lot of talks, but Chelle was clear that he got assurances from the players that they will be fit hence his decision to include them in his squad, although he is also aware that they might also not make it.
His explanation was taken by the NFF technical committee with Chelle also saying that the doubts over the availability of one of the duo, was why he handed a first time call up to young LASK defender Emmanuel Michael.
Michael will serve as a cover for the two senior left backs in the team in Zaidu Sanusi and Bruno Onyemaechi respectively.
Chelle feels a 28 man list will aid his job of blooding in young players for the futures of the team , which is expected to undergo a huge rebuild after the AFCON in Morocco.
