Lagos — Former Nigerian international, Benedict Iroha has given tips to Chief Coach of the Super Eagles, Stephen Keshi, on how best to make the defence of his team solid as Nigeria prepares for the Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa later this month.

Iroha, who played alongside Keshi in the Super Eagles under Coach Clemens Westerhof, said that the main problem of the Eagles is the defence. He noted that no matter how good a team can be, a porous defence will expose the team to danger in any competition.

"There must be an effective communication among the defenders of the Eagles. A good defence of a team is all about correlation. So I would want our defence to be properly organised before the Nations Cup," said Iroha, who was originally a midfielder before the then coach of the Eagles, Westerhof converted him to play left back.

"Joseph Yobo, who is the captain of the team should be in the best position to organise the defence very well. I would want a situation where Keshi has Elderson Echiejile with Yobo and possibly Ambrose Efe. With the combination and a good leadership from Yobo, we should be able to have a rock solid defence for the Eagles where there will be good communications among the defenders at the Nations Cup.

"I'm happy that the chief coach himself, Keshi, was a defender in his days in the Eagles and he knew how he controlled other defenders during our matches then. I think he should let this experience bears on his team as they head to the Nations Cup," said the former Watford of England player, who played for Nigeria in the 1994 and 1998 FIFA World Cups as well as a winner of African Nations Cup in 1994.