Lazio manager Maurizio Sarri says the club directed his decision to leave Nigerian midfielder Fisayo Dele-Bashiru out of Sunday’s 2-0 victory over Lecce, SportPremi reports.
The Super Eagles midfielder has been out of action since suffering a thigh injury in the 1-0 defeat to AS Roma in September, going down after just 11 minutes in the clash.
The midfielder also missed Nigeria’s World Cup qualifiers against Benin Republic and Lesotho in October and was absent for this month’s playoff ties against Gabon and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
He was expected to return to action in October, but only recently returned to training after suffering a slight setback in his recovery.
The 24-year-old will be eyeing a swift return to action as he hopes to make Nigeria’s squad for the 2025 African Cup of Nations next month.
Lazio return to winning ways
Lazio headed into the clash on the back of a 2-0 defeat to Inter Milan before the international break and were eyeing a win to keep their European hopes alive.
Nigerian midfielder Fisayo Dele-Bashiru was back in training, but was not included in the match-day squad.
Lecce scored an early goal which was ruled out for a foul on a Lazio player in the buildup.
That seemed to awaken the home side who sparked into action and went ahead through Matteo Guendouzi.
Biancocelesti wasted several other chances to add to their tally until Tijjani Noslin sealed the win in stoppage-time for his first goal of the season.
They climbed up to seventh in the standings after accruing their fifth league win of the season from 12 matches.
What Sarri said after the clash
Speaking after the clash, former Chelsea manager Sarri explained the decision to exclude Dele-Bashiru from the match-day squad.
The Lazio boss also spoke on the midfielder’s chances of playing at next month’s African Cup of Nations tournament for Nigeria.
“Yesterday, 24 hours before a crucial match for me, I didn’t have many meetings; I was focused on the match”, Sarri revealed.
“They asked me to wait two or three days, and that’s fine. Dele could have been available, but he hasn’t played in two months and could have played fifteen minutes at most.
“I decided to reinstate Dele-Bashiru on Friday, but the club then asked me to wait another week. We’ll talk about it tomorrow,” he added.
Lazio return to action next Saturday when they travel to the San Siro to face a resurgent AC Milan.
