Keshi relieved to avoid injuries

Nigeria coach Stephen Keshi admits he was relieved to have avoided any further injuries following his side's 6-1 thrashing of Tahiti in their Confederations Cup opener on Monday. The Super Eagles entered the Brazil tournament without Victor Moses, Kalu Uche and Emmanuel Emenike, who are all on the treatment table, while Ogenyi Onazi missed this week's clash after suffering a knock to his knee. However, a Nnamdi Oduamadi hat-trick spurred the Africa Cup of Nations holders to a convincing win, which was made all the more sweeter by the fact all squad members came through the encounter unscathed. "There are no (new) injuries to the players, because I've already lost four players," the coach said. "With all this journey we've been having, arriving yesterday (Sunday) morning at four o'clock, I'm just happy there's no major problems concerning injuries." A dispute between the Eagles and the Nigerian Football Federation over bonuses threatened to derail the side's preparations ahead of the tournament, having arrived in South America just 36 hours before the game against the Tahitians. Oduamadi, though, was happy to put that issue aside to help the national team to victory, saying: "I'll say it's a big relief now, due to the stuff we had with the delay and missing the flights. "This victory will give us a big morale. We'll talk in the group now, do everything the coach says, and we'll see what happens in the second game."