Nigeria: Afcon 2023 – Ndidi, Iheanacho Injured 12 Days Before Kickoff

The two Nigerians at Leicester City are currently injured and may miss the team’s opening match against Equatorial Guinea on 14 January.

Two Super Eagles stalwarts- Wilfred Ndidi and Kelechi Iheanacho- will join up with the team in the UAE but there are major doubts for their first match against Equatorial Guinea on 14 January.

This was revealed by Leicester City manager Enzo Maresca on Sunday after the duo were missing from the matchday squad.

Maresca said: “Kelechi [Iheanacho] and Wilfred [Ndidi] are both currently injured, but they are going to go with the international team, we will see if Nigeria want to include them or send them back as I said, they both have an injury at the moment.”

Ndidi is a certain starter for the Super Eagles and has been a mainstay of the Leicester team that has romped to a 10-point advantage atop the Championship table.Maresca has tweaked the midfielder’s game, turning the sitting midfielder into a box-to-box player, with the licence to run beyond the attacker. That role change has seen Ndidi score two goals and provide five assists in 21 league games this season. His last game was against Cardiff City on 29 December where he played 69 minutes in the 2-0 win.

Iheanacho has largely been injured but he has still played 19 games and scored five goals and provided one assist. He came on as a substitute against Ipswich Town on Boxing Day.

Coach Jose Peseiro has already released his final 25-man squad for the AFCON tournament but he may have to do some juggling if the injuries sustained by Ndidi and Iheanacho do not heal on time.