Wilfred Ndidi will not play in the international friendly between Nigeria and Russia on October 6 at the Nizhny Novgorod Stadium, with kick-off set for 5 p.m.

Eric Chelle was originally named Super Eagles captain in the squads for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers and the friendly match, but he has reportedly withdrawn, with the reason yet to be confirmed.

The Besiktas midfielder played over 180 minutes as Nigeria began the qualifiers for 2027 AFCON with a 2-1 win over Manchester in Uyo and a 3-0 loss away at Guinea-Bissau.

Meanwhile, the coaching staff and Nigeria Premier Football League players in the squad departed for Russia on Thursday evening, with the foreign-based players set to join the team.

Super Eagles manager Eric Chelle will also join the team in Russia after not returning to Nigeria with the team that lost to Guinea-Bissau on Tuesday.

Chelle’s 23-man squad mixes a blend of experienced Super Eagles stars like goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali, Benjamin Fredrick, Akor Adams, Bright-Osayi Samuel, Raphael Onyedika, and Moses Simon.

Kelechi Iheanacho, after a terrific start to the season with Bursaspor, also returns to the national team to strengthen the Super Eagles’ attack ahead of the friendly.

Several players in the squad are in line to make their debut, including Ikorodu City’s duo Michael Atata (GK) and midfielder Aderemi Adeoye.

Others include Benfica’s forward Peter Edopolor, Hradec Králové’s striker Abdullahi Umar, Fulham’s midfielder Chibuzo Nwoko Nwoko, Basel’s defender Victory Akpe, Slavia Prague’s Suleiman Mubarak, Famalicão’s Abubakar Umar, among others.

Nigeria take on Russia in preparation for the Olympic Eagles Under-23 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers second-round match against either Mauritania or DR Congo in November.

The Olympic Eagles received a bye and will start their quest to qualify for the tournament scheduled for Egypt next year. Nigeria will play the winner of the tie involving Burkina Faso and Zambia or Sierra Leone in the third and final round.

Seven teams will compete in the tournament alongside hosts Egypt and will serve as Africa’s qualifying tournament for the men’s football event at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

Nigeria’s last appearance at the Olympics was in 2016 where they won bronze.