Alex Iwobi and Chidozie Awaziem relieved to get over the AFCON group stage hurdle

Speaking after the narrow win on Monday night, midfielder Alex Iwobi says they faced a side with nothing to lose.

"I think they changed a lot of their players and I feel like they came with a mindset that they had players that were ready to express themselves. So, it's always gonna be dangerous for us but yeah, the main thing is that we were able to get those three points and go through to the next round. Another clean sheet and a great defensive performance, so we'll take that to the next game," Iwobi said.

The former Arsenal star and now Fulham talisman, Iwobi had a few chances himself that didn’t hit the target.

But the main objective is winning the continental tournament and repeating the 2013 triumph in South Africa.

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"Of course, cause in training normally that goes in but unfortunately I didn't catch it right but at the end of the day, I was able to contribute and make sure that we get a win. While we've played three games, we've managed to not lose, we've won two, so, like I said we'll take the positives,” Iwobi added.

“Any team that we come against we'll prepare ourselves and make sure that we look at their weaknesses and how we can explore them. So, it doesn't matter who we play, we'll be mentally prepared and physically prepared.

“Of course, we wanna have that feeling. We've had Kenneth Omeruo and Ahmed Musa remind us of that feeling so, we’d like to create history for ourselves."

Although Nigeria managed seven points from the three matches against Equatorial Guinea, hosts Cote d’Ivoire and Guinea-Bissau they were only able to clinch runners up spot in Group A.

It means they remain in Abidjan for the knockout stages and that is all that matters at the end of the day for Iwobi’s teammate and defender Chidozie Awaziem.

"We feel extremely happy, it was an important win for us. Everyone knew the task - we came prepared to be in the top of the group but unfortunately, we couldn't top the group. We're still focusing on our next round of the game and we're just going now to make a quick recovery and come back for the round of 16," Awaziem said.