'We have to do right thing by Benjamin' - Crawley Town boss gives verdict on Nigerian defender ahead after disrupted International break

The 22-year-old joined Reds at the end of the summer transfer window but is yet to be involved in any match day squads. But in that time he has twice been on International duty with Nigeria.

The Super Eagles hit the headlines in the latest International break after they were stranded in an airport for more than 16 hours.

The squad, including Tanimu, was expected to land at Benghazi Airport on Sunday ahead of Tuesday's African Cup Of Nations (AFCON) qualifier in Libya, but as the charter flight was descending, it was diverted to Al Abraq, 200km away, with no alternative transport offered, the Nigerian Football Federation said.

Nigeria refused to play the game and their claims about mistreatment in Libya are being investigated by the Confederation of African Football.

But Tanimu is now back and training with Reds squad and is putting himself in contention for a a first involvement with a match day squad.

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Elliot said: “It might be a bit too early to tell. I’ll speak to Ricky [McFarlane] who is our head of performance here and who is fantastic. There’s a lot to monitor because of the football and the unique circumstances of the last couple of weeks.

"He trained today which is good, gets him on the grass. Obviously you are not a Nigerian international without having talent and ability. But we need to make sure we do the right thing by Benjamin. He’s had a testing week or so and he’s had an indifferent first few weeks since he has come in.

"We want to make sure we do the right thing by him and when he goes in he is ready and we are not going to put him at any risk.

"He seems like a really good professional, a really good athlete. We’ve seen from games he has played in he has ability and hopefully he can help us. We just have to make sure we get it right when we do include him.”

Tanimu signed for Crawley Town from Tanzanian Premier League side Singida Black Stars.