Innocent Bonke last played for the Super Eagles against the Central African Republic in a World Cup qualifier back in October 2021
By Kehinde Okeowo
Super Eagles gaffer, Austin Eguavoen, has called up Lorient’s Innocent Bonke as a replacement for the injured Leicester midfielder Wilfred Ndidi in the squad to play against Ghana in the World Cup playoff.
Ndidi was left out of the Super Eagles squad after suffering a knee injury in his club’s 2-1 loss to Rennes in a Europa Conference League round of 16 clash on Thursday.
He was not part of the Foxes team that defeated Brentford at the King Power Stadium in Sunday’s Premier League week 29 fixture.
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Leicester City boss, Brendan Rodgers confirmed Ndidi’s injury after his team qualified for the Conference League’s quarter-finals, adding that the Nigerian international may be sidelined for the rest of the season.
This effectively ruled him out of the playoff against Ghana, and the development prompted the invitation of Innocent Bonke who will now fill the void.
Bonke’s last game for the Super Eagles was against the Central African Republic in a World Cup qualifier back in October 2021. He has, however, played in Lorient’s last seven matches in the French Ligue 1.
This disclosure was made via a tweet from the Super Eagles official Twitter handle which read:
“Camp update: Innocent Bonke has been called up as replacement for injured @Ndidi25 for the #WCQ games against #Ghana. Get well quick Wilf,”
Nigeria will travel to Ghana to face the Black Stars at the Baba Yara Stadium in Kumasi on Friday, 25th March before hosting them at the MKO Abiola Stadium four days later.