Super Eagles: Fulham star pulls out of Iran, Jordan friendlies

Super Eagles head coach Eric Chelle has suffered a significant setback in his preparations for the upcoming matches against Jordan and Iran, as Fulham star Calvin Bassey has pulled out of the squad due to injury, Afrik-Foot reports.

​Nigeria’s training camp for the March international break officially opened on Tuesday in Antalya, Turkey. While all 23 invited players were expected to report to base for the double-header, the squad will now be one man short.

​According to the latest update from the Super Eagles media team, 22 players have already arrived at the camp.

However, coach Chelle will have to navigate the upcoming fixtures without Bassey, who has been confirmed to have suffered a back injury. As a result, the versatile defender has been excused from international duty to focus on his recovery in London.

The exact nature of his injury and the timeline for his return is unconfirmed as of the time of this report, but Fulham are expected to reveal more in the coming days.

Who Will Replace Calvin Bassey In The Super Eagles?

Now that it is confirmed that Calvin Bassey will be unavailable for the games against Jordan and Iran due to injury, Eric Chelle will have to think about a worthy replacement.

The Fulham star has distinguished himself as Nigeria’s best defender over the past year. His physicality, speed and technicality has always been clear whenever he is on the pitch for Nigeria. So anybody who is going to take his place is going to have a lot on his shoulders.

Coach Chelle could bank on Igoh Ogbu to take his place. The Slavia Prague star, though relatively unproven, has gotten a good amount of minutes under Chelle, so he could do a good job.

Also, Emmanuel Fernandez could be tried in that position even though his more preferred position is at right center-back.

it will be interesting to see how Chelle will manage without his best defender. These are what friendly games are for, and he will be looking to test his team to play well without Bassey.