Super Eagles manager Gernot Rohr has received good news from Chippa United regarding the fitness of his experienced goalkeeper Daniel Akpeyi.
The 31-year-old netminder missed Nigeria’s two World Cup qualifiers against Cameroon earlier this month due to injury, with Rohr not willing to take a risk to field him in both matches in Uyo and Yaounde.
can exclusively report that Daniel Akpeyi is now in tip-top condition, so much so that he has been named in the starting line-up for Chippa United’s clash against Baroka in the Premier Soccer League on Tuesday evening, barring any last minute change of mind by manager Dan Malesela.
The Super Eagle wanted to return to Chippa United as fit as possible and trained with a local club in Lagos before his trip to South Africa to rejoin his team after the international break.
In the current season, Daniel Akpeyi has no minutes under his belt in the league, whereas he was in between the pipes on 28 occasions last term from a possible 30.
Meanwhile, Rohr has expressed confidence in his team “I am not under any pressure at all. I watched the game yesterday night (Tuesday) and I am very confident the Zambian’s will fall when they come to Nigeria.
Rohr further revealed that he has no plan to change his winning team going into the crucial encounter with the Zambians on October 7 in Uyo.
“I will stick to the same tactics that saw us (Nigeria) see off Cameroon. I see no reason to change a winning team as the boys were fantastic and we must continue to work well as a team to ensure we have a proper team ahead of the World Cup in Russia next year,” hinted the Eagles supremo.
He admitted that he is very happy with the support Nigerians showed his team during the last round of matches of the Group B qualifying series.
Rohr urged all football-loving Nigerians to continue to support the Super Eagles in good and bad times, as he bids to build a formidable team capable of conquering not just Africa, but the world.
Gernot Rohr is expected to announce his squad for the crucial World Cup qualifier against Zambia in the next two weeks.
