Why I dropped Ighalo - Oliseh

Punch - Super Eagles coach, Sunday Oliseh, has said he did not invite Odion Ighalo for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Tanzania because he needed just two players for every position.

Oliseh released the 18-man list of overseas-based players on Monday with newcomers Izunna Izuchukwu and Sylvester Igbonu getting call-ups.

The coach was quoted by News24.com as saying that the Watford forward remains in his plans for future games.

Oliseh said, “Odion Ighalo is in our plans. It is just that for this first game against Tanzania, we are inviting only two players for every position.

“Ighalo is a fellow Nigerian but we cannot invite everybody at the same time. We can only play 11 players at once and we have two other strikers. We’re going to try everybody but let’s see the ones we have now.

“We need competition for these positions and it is useless bringing three professionals, pay for their flight tickets and everything. Having three strikers and not being able to use two or three of them will amount to waste of resources.

“I think we have to take our time but I think also we have some heavyweights in Emenike and Ujah in that position and if need be, we might need to play the two of them.”

Ighalo is arguably the most prolific Nigerian forward in the foreign leagues. He scored Nigeria’s second goal in the 2-0 win over Chad in the AFCON qualifiers played in June.

His goals were pivotal in Watford’s promotion drive last season and he also scored six goals in the club’s pre-season games. He has scored one goal for the newly-promoted side since the resumption of the English Premier League season.