Cadet national team, Golden Eaglets coach, Manu Garba has reiterated his ability to quickly overcome assumed setbacks created in his squad by the elimination of 15 players by MRI scans, as he says he is already lining up replacements for them.
Though the UAE 2013 FIFA U17 World Cup-winning coach admitted he will surely miss the players axed by failures at the mandatory scans, including five he says had been key to his plans, Manu said it is up to him and his assistants to now find capable alternatives.
The players affected include four main strikers and a highly-rated central defender, but Manu said another set of 15 players will undergo the scans to replace those who failed.Th
The Eaglets will begin their qualifying campaign on September 3 against Burkina Faso at the zonal qualifiers in Niger Republic, where they will also be in Group B along with Cote d’Ivoire and Benin Republic.
Only the overall winner of the seven-team zonal qualifying competition will advance to the tournament proper in Tanzania next year, but Manu said there is no cause for alarm.
Manu stressed: “It’s unfortunate because they have been with us for a while but we will work hard to make up for their absence. They wil be missed but we are confident of finding capable replacement.”
