Super Eagles media officer, Toyin Ibitoye, has revealed that captain Mikel Obi was left out of Nigeria’s squad to face Libya in this month’s 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers two-legged encounters due to his fitness issue.
Mikel is yet to feature for the Super Eagles since their Russia 2018 FIFA World Cup first round elimination.
However the Tianjin Teda midfielder is expected back in the Super Eagles team for their Group E matchday-five clash against South Africa in November, Ibitoye further revealed.
“Obi Mikel has been excused because he is just recovering from injury in China and needs time to fully regain fitness,” Ibitoye told BBC.
“We expect him to be available for the November game against South Africa.”
Mikel played the entire duration of Tianjin TEDA’s 1-0 loss away at Guizhou Hengfeng in a Chinese Super League game on Sunday.
The game was his 16th of the CSL season.
Meanwhile, Libya currently lead Group E of the 2019 AFCON qualifiers with four points followed by South Africa on the same point.
Nigeria are third in the table with three points from two games, while Seychelles are bottom without a point from two games.