Former Nigeria international Mutiu Adepoju has dismissed the absence of Barcelona star Lionel Messi from the international friendly between Argentina and Nigeria, stating it will not make any difference, Completesportsnigeria.com reports.

After securing their places for next year’s World Cup, the Super Eagles and Argentina will meet in a friendly in Krasnodar, Russia, on Tuesday.

But Argentina will be without star forward Messi who flew back to Spain after helping his team pip FIFA 2018 World Cup Russia 1-0 in a friendly game on Saturday.

But Adepoju who faced Argentina on three occasions during his Super Eagles career (USA 1994 World Cup, Confederation Cup 1995, Korea/Japan 2002), said the South Americans still parade world class players who can hurt Nigeria.

“We should be expecting a tough game, as usual, as it always is with Argentina,” Adepoju told Completesportsnigeria.com. “Playing against Argentina is not always easy. We should expect a fierce and interesting game.

“Messi not being part of the game does not matter. We are going to play against an Argentina side that parade great players.

“They will put up their best to make sure that they give us a good game. They have a great squad with players playing in big clubs in the world.”