Fulham defender Calvin Bassey has admitted the Super Eagles should have done better after surrendering the lead twice to draw 2-2 with Poland in Warsaw, insisting that Nigeria had enough quality on the night to claim the win, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.

The Fulham defender came on at half-time as one of seven substitutions Eric Chelle made at the break, part of a sweeping overhaul that altered the flow of the game in the second half.

Nigeria had gone into the interval level at 1-1 after Terem Moffi’s 23rd-minute opener was cancelled out by Kacper Potulski in first-half stoppage time.

Paul Onuachu restored Nigeria’s lead from the penalty spot in the 80th minute after VAR spotted a handball inside the Polish area, and the Eagles looked set to secure a creditable away win in front of more than 54,000 spectators at the PGE Narodowy Stadium.

But Przemysław Wiśniewski struck from 25 yards deep into stoppage time to rescue a share of the spoils for the hosts, leaving Nigeria frustrated.

“We should have got the win. Two late goals in both halves. It shows there was something we could adjust,” Bassey said in the mixed zone after the match.

The defender was careful not to be too harsh on the group, pointing to the disrupted nature of the camp as context for the lapses. Several players joined up at different times in the lead-up to the friendly, limiting the preparation time available to Chelle and his staff.

“A lot of us had different arrival times. A few of us joined camp yesterday, so it is good to get some minutes in the legs,” Bassey said.

Despite the late disappointment, the former Ajax man saw enough in the performance to remain encouraged. Several players made their senior debuts during the contest, and Chelle used the occasion to run the rule over fringe members of his squad ahead of the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.

“I think there were positives to take out of it. We are trying to build and improve game by game. Overall, I think it was a good performance from the boys. A lot of changes, and there are a lot of boys not here from AFCON and previously. It is good to get some debuts, and for the manager it is amazing to test new players,” Bassey said.

The result extended Chelle’s unbeaten run in regulation time to 23 matches, and the Super Eagles now shift focus to their next friendly against Portugal in Leiria on June 10.