Chukwu wants more time

Nigeria's coach Christian Chukwu says he wants fans to give him more time to re-build the national team.

After the Super Eagles worst-ever World Cup performance, a side is being created using only home-based players.

"The football authorities understand the programme," Chukwu told BBC Sport Online, "but the fans want victory all the time.

"What we're pleading is that they have patience, because it takes time to build a team. And by the time we've been together six months or a year, we will be formidable."

Nigeria overcame their latest hurdle in their re-building programme on Sunday by beating Ghana 1-0 in Accra.

It was the first time Nigeria had beaten the Black Stars in Ghana for 27 years.

"It's given confidence to the young team I'm building," said Chukwu after the match.

"Each time we play we're improving. We're building up gradually, but you know it takes time," he added.

"I'm very pleased with the win over Ghana. The team understood the need to defend our lead. What we need now is to improve on our counter-attacks," the coach said.

"But when we get to important qualifying matches, we'll be at that stage."

Chukwu said he was giving the players a break now after a tough few months.

"We're going home for Christmas, and we'll start again next year."