Troost-Ekong confident of victory against Benin

William Troost-Ekong is confident Nigeria can qualify for the 2021 African Cup of Nations finals in Cameroon, reports Completesports.com.

The defender is expected to captain the team in the absence of Ahmed Musa in Saturday’s clash against the Benin Republic.

“We are top of the table and need one point to qualify as group winners,” said Troost-Ekong.

“I’m sure we are going to do it. I’ve got lots of confidence in our team. We have a very good team and I’m looking forward to playing. I’m really looking forward to the games and coming back having qualified for Nigeria. It’s massive for us.”

Troost-Ekong will win his 40th cap if he is selected by Gernot Rohr and he hopes the games will be more straight forward than caps number 38 and 39.

In their previous two fixtures, Nigeria raced into a four-goal lead after just 29 minutes against Sierra Leone only to blow it and draw the game. They then, in a complete reversal of fortunes, played out a goalless draw against the same opposition a few days later.

“Those games were a massive talking point,” said Troost-Ekong.

“Drawing 4-4 after being 4-0 up is something unheard of and one of the strangest experiences of my career. I look at it as another experience in the bag.”