Midfielder Alex Iwobi says the Eagles will make it up to Nigerians for not qualifying for the World Cup.
Recall that the three-time African champions failed to qualify for the Mundial after some awful and uninspiring displays.
They have also not won a game in their last five outings.
Iwobi was the target of exasperated fans, who sent death threats to the Everton man after he was red carded few minutes after coming on in the 1-0 second round defeat to Tunisia at the 2021 AFCON in Cameroon last January.
The expulsion meant he missed the World Cup qualifiers against archrivals Ghana in March, and the 26-year-old admitted he was heartbroken watching his teammates fail to qualify for the Mundial after losing out on the away-goal rule following a 1-1 aggregate scoreline.
“I watched the games at home with my family and we were optimistic that Nigeria could do it, but we were just unlucky and it’s heartbreaking to know that we are not going to be in Qatar,” Iwobi said ahead of today’s 2023 AFCON qualifying clash versus Sierra Leone
“I can’t fault the players because everybody gave their best. It’s just one of those things and we have to pick our heads up, go again and move on.”
He added that the players were desperate to set the records straight.
“Of course, we remember the game against the Leone Stars about two years ago, which ended 4-4. But we are desperate now to prove a point that we should have won that game then.
“This game will therefore come with a lot of discipline as we have an understanding of what happened before.
“It was unfortunate and we are looking forward to putting things right this time around on home soil and hopefully we will get the result we want,” he said.