The senior national team of Nigeria will prosecute the Africa Cup of Nations without the services of one of their key strikers, who has been ruled out of the tournament through injury, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.
Nigeria has adopted a slogan of “Let’s Do It Again” with the aim of winning the Africa Cup of Nations,which will take place next year in Cote d’Ivoire for the fourth time in their history. Their last win came in the 2013 edition in South Africa.
They will now be hoping to do so without the services of Nottingham Forest forward Taiwo Awoniyi, who recently underwent surgery for the injury he picked up while on international duty with Nigeria during the world cup qualifiers game against Lesotho.
He will be out for a considerable length of time, effectively ruling him out of Nigeria’s campaign at the AFCON in January.
Speaking in this morning’s press conference ahead of Saturday’s fixture against Brighton and Hove Albion, Cooper said: “It’s bad news on Taiwo, he’s had to have surgery and he is going to be out for months.
“We’ll support him and try to get him back as quick and as fit as he can be, but it’s a really unfortunate situation and a blow for him.
“He’s become an important player for us with the goals he’s scored and the goals he will score for us, but he’s such a good guy and a good professional who is desperate to do well, so to get an injury like this is harsh on him.
“We’ve got to support him through the process of coming back stronger. He’s done that once before here and I’m sure he will give everything again like he did last time.
“You think about how well he did when he returned last season, I’m sure that’s given him a good reference point to come back to.
“We’ll definitely see him again this season, but it’s groin surgery so it will take a little while.”
Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman
