Alhassan Yusuf will now have to gate crash the Super Eagles starting XI for a second time after he has recovered from injury as in his absence coach Jose Peseiro has now got his settled first team at the AFCON.
Alhassan was only drafted to the Super Eagles AFCON squad at the last minute after injury knocked out Wilfred Ndidi.
The Antwerp midfielder was therefore a major surprise to start the opening group game against Equatorial Guinea.
He went on to shine, but a thigh injury from that encounter meant he has since then not featured for the Super Eagles.
In his absence, Peseiro changed from a 4-3-3 formation to a 3-4-3 formation, which works with two midfielders in Frank Onyeka and Alex Iwobi.
Alhassan, 23, has continued to shine in training, but he will again have to be contented with coming from the bench Friday against Angola.
Onyeka is one of Peseiro’s most trusted players and so Alhassan’s main direct rival is Iwobi.
Iwobi was replaced by Joe Aribo for the third group game against Guinea Bissau, but after the Southampton midfielder bombed, Iwobi was re-instated for the Round of 16 clash against Cameroon.
