Super Eagles defender Benjamin Tanimu’s debut for his EFL League One club Crawley Town looks unlikely after their head coach said it is too early to say if the 22-year-old will be included in the squad for Sunday’s trip to Reading.
The former Bendel Insurance player joined the club in September from Singida Black Stars of Tanzania on a two-year contract for a fee of 2.3 billion Tanzanian shillings but is yet to be involved in any matchday squads. But in that time, he has twice been on international duty with Nigeria.
Elliot to the club’s official website on Thursday: “It might be a bit too early to tell. I’ll speak to Ricky [McFarlane], who is our head of performance here and who is fantastic. There’s a lot to monitor because of the football and the unique circumstances of the last couple of weeks.
“He trained today, which is good; it gets him on the grass. Obviously, you are not a Nigerian international without having talent and ability. But we need to make sure we do the right thing by Benjamin. He’s had a testing week or so, and he’s had an indifferent first few weeks since he has come in.
“We want to make sure we do the right thing by him, and when he goes in, he is ready, and we are not going to put him at any risk.
“He seems like a really good professional, a really good athlete. We’ve seen from games he has played that he has ability, and hopefully he can help us. We just have to make sure we get it right when we do include him.”
Taminu was among the Super Eagles players taken hostage at a Libyan airport between Sunday and Monday ahead of Tuesday’s African Cup of Nations qualifier in Libya. Upon landing, the charter flight was diverted to Al Abraq, 200 km away from Benghazi, with no alternative transport offered.
But Tanimu is now back and training with the Reds squad and is putting himself in contention for his first involvement with a matchday squad.
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