Super Eagles captain William Troost-Ekong is diligently working on his return to peak fitness following the injury he sustained during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, as reported by 247skyupdates.com.
Troost-Ekong suffered an injury during Nigeria’s second group game at the AFCON against Cote d’Ivoire, in which he scored the Super Eagles’ winning goal.
The former Watford defender missed Nigeria’s next match against Guinea-Bissau, but he returned in the knockout rounds and featured as the Eagles reached the final.
Troost-Ekong, who scored crucial goals in both the semifinal and final, was honored as the tournament’s Most Valuable Player. However, post-AFCON evaluation revealed a ruptured biceps femoris in his right leg.
Subsequently, the 29-year-old underwent surgery in Finland, sidelining him for the remainder of the season. Since returning from AFCON, he hasn't featured for his club, PAOK FC, missing the first leg of their Europa Conference League quarterfinal against Raphael Onyedika’s Club Brugge.
Although Club Brugge secured a narrow 1-0 victory in that fixture, PAOK aims to overturn the deficit and advance to the semifinals.
However, while PAOK have confirmed that Troost-Ekong is not in the squad for the second leg of the tie, the Greek club side provided an update on the Nigeria international’s rehabilitation.
The Super Eagles defender did not participate in team training; rather, he underwent physiotherapy and spent time in the gym.
Despite his injury setback, Troost-Ekong is still not ruled out of Nigeria’s crucial World Cup qualifiers in June.
The Super Eagles face South Africa and the Benin Republic in the first week of that month, with a defeat in any of those games likely to derail qualification hopes.
