Nigeria head coach Finidi George has explained why Bayer Leverkusen top scorer Victor Boniface was benched against Bafana Bafana.
The Super Eagles remain without a win in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers following a 1-1 draw with South Africa on Friday night.
Nigeria were already without talisman Victor Osimhen as Kelechi Iheanacho got the start, but there was no place for Boniface, who netted 21 goals for the Bundesliga champions this season.
Read: Group C: Zimbabwe Stunned, Bafana Nigeria Fall Behind
George has now revealed that an injury to Semi Ajayi forced the technical team to change their mind.
"We thought about bringing him (Boniface) on. He was supposed to come in but when we had Ajayi complaining that he had a knock and couldn't continue, we had to reverse that," George said, as per All Nigeria Soccer.
"We have another game. Definitely he is going to play if he's up and doing. For me, it's what you can give me on the pitch.
"Everybody wants this player or that player to play but at the end of the day if the player is not performing you guys will still be shouting, 'take him off'.
"Let us do our job, we know who is good to go. We have another game, we'll see how we ca play these guys."
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