Nigeria have granted John Obi Mikel leave from their World Cup qualifier against Sierra Leone on Saturday.

Chelsea had asked for the midfielder to be left out in order to allow him to work on his fitness and put himself in contention for the Blues' next Premier League fixture, at Middlesbrough on October 18.

And Nigerian team official Emmanuel Attah confirmed Mikel had been excused from the squad for this weekend's match.

He said: "The Nigeria Football Federation and Chelsea manager Luiz Felipe Scolari have agreed that Mikel skip this game so as to concentrate fully on his club career.

"We agreed to this because we want the player to fully establish himself at the club while also improving the working relationship between us and the overseas clubs of our players."