Eguavoen calls up Lorient star as a replacement for Wilfred Ndidi

Super Eagles coach has called up Lorient midfielder Bonke Innocent to Nigeria's squad for the 2022 World Cup playoff matches against Ghana.

Innocent joins the team as a replacement for Wilfred Ndidi, who will miss the encounter due to an injury.

Ndidi picked up an injury in Leicester City's UEFA Europa Conference League encounter against Rennes at the Roazhon Park on Thursday night.

Following the game, Leicester's manager Brendan Rodgers confirmed Ndidi had suffered a medial ligament injury, although he stopped short of revealing the severity.

However, ahead of the game against Brentford, Rodgers confirmed Ndidi would be out for a few weeks, which effectively ruled him out of Nigeria's massive games against Ghana.

As a result, Innocent, who is also a defensive midfielder, has been called up by Eguavoen for the two games.

Innocent's invitation comes as a surprise, though, as he was not among the seven players named on standby initially.

However, he has made two appearances for the Super Eagles, which came during the second round of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers against Cape Verde and the Central African Republic.

Bonke also has enough Champions League experience with Malmo. He is one of the few Nigerian midfielders playing in one of Europe's top five leagues after joining Lorient in January.

He has made six league appearances for Les Merlus since signing for them.