Chelsea duo to miss friendly

Chelsea's Victor Moses and Jon Obi Mikel have been excused from making a long midweek trip to Miami to play in Nigeria's friendly international against Venezuela in the American city on Wednesday.

The pair were initially called up by coach Stephen Keshi but after requesting time off to either deal with a personal issue and recover from a minor knock, they have been given permission to miss the match, Nigerian officials confirmed on Monday.

Chelsea, however, are likely to lose the players in January when Nigeria compete at the African Nations Cup finals in South Africa.

Stade Rennes defender Onyekachi Apam has also withdrawn from the squad because of injury.

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