Nigeria vs Senegal: Match fitness affected Eagles — Rohr

Nigerian head coach Gernot Rohr, says lack of game time by some of the regulars in the Super Eagles affected their performance during the draw against Senegal two days ago in London.

Nigeria held Senegal to a 1-1 draw on Thursday night at The Hive Stadium, but Rohr reckons it could have been better from the outset if the Eagles had been match fit.

Addressing a post-match press conference, Rohr said: “Most of my players are not playing regularly at the moment at their clubs which was why they were slow to get into the game after the kickoff but they later flowed into it. I believe that the performance will even be better against Burkina Faso.

“Now they have more confidence. They have players who have the belief that being champions brings but we know that if we are to win in Cameroon, it will give us a great chance of being at the World Cup,” the Nigeria head coach said.

The coach praised his players’ attitude and commitment “considering that we played one of the best sides in Africa at the moment and who have been together in competitive matches only six weeks ago while we haven’t played for four months.”

On the subject of Cameroon who are now African champions and whether that factor changes the dynamics going into that qualifier “most definitely” Rohr said.