The 2023 Africa Cup of Nation's Player of the Tournament is fighting hard to regain fitness ahead of an important clash against Bafana Bafana in June.
South Africa are set to resume their 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign when they face Nigeria away on 3 June, and Zimbabwe at home seven days later.
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The meeting between Bafana and the Super Eagles will come just months after they met in the semi-finals of the recent AFCON, where the west Africans prevailed on penalties thanks to Chippa United goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali's heroics, before going on to finish as the runners-up of the competition.
However, in the months since, Nigeria have been unable to call on their captain William Troost-Ekong, who was named the best player at the 2023 AFCON.
That in itself was quite an achievement for the PAOK Salonika star, who became the first defender to win the award since Cameroon legend Rigobert Song in 2002.
Having had a knock in the group stage of the tournament, missing one game before playing in the rest, Troost-Ekong was found to have ruptured the biceps femoris in his right leg after the conclusion of the continental showpiece.
He has since missed 15 games for the Greek side, and the March international break for his country.
According to reports, it was initially thought that he would miss the remainder of the season but following a successful surgery, his recovery is said to have accelerated, with Transfermarkt indicating he could return to action by 6 May.
In a statement on PAOK's official website on Thursday, the team confirmed that Troost-Ekong is now doing undergoing physiotherapy and a programme in the gym.
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Bafana are second in their World Cup qualifying group while Nigeria are third, with all six nations in the group have played two games so far.
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