Hull City coach, Leonid Slutsky, has blamed Nigeria for Ola Aina’s recent underwhelming performance.
Chelsea star, Aina, on-loan at Hull, was in scintillating form, making the Championship Team of the Week, before the international break.
Away in Nigeria, the 21-year-old was handed his debut against Zambia – a game his nation won 1-0 to qualify for the 2018 FIFA World.
But according to Slutsky, Aina has lost his touch since returning from that game and looked totally off the pace against Norwich City last week.
“Aina, like Max Clark and Jarrod Bowen (all teammates), is a young player and sometimes he has good matches and not good matches especially when he misses a lot of time because he has a trip to Nigeria,” Slutsky said on Friday.
“It is difficult for young players to keep up your level if you are not training at all times.
“Very quickly you can lose the optimum form, especially young players because they don’t have the guaranteed level like experienced players and always they need to train.
“For example, I was sure with Clark and Bowen because they train with the team no problem and they played well but Aina it depends on condition and tomorrow I am sure he will be back to his normal level.”
Aina will be expected to get back to his best on Saturday when the Tigers visit Barnsley.
