Nigeria interim coach Augustine Eguavoen believes his charges will have to learn to react fast for them to stand a chance of getting past Ghana in the second leg of the 2022 World Cup play-off to be played on Tuesday.
The two nations played out a goalless draw when they met in Kumasi in Friday's first leg. It leaves the meeting at Abuja's Moshood Abiola a decisive one, as the hosts aim at capitalising on home-ground advantage to make it to Qatar.
Eguavoen insists his team could have won the first leg, but he is content with the draw.
"Ghana were on top of their game in the first leg but they didn't have any clear-cut chances - but we had two clear-cut chances," Eguavoen said as quoted by BBC Sport.
"Ghana are not a pushover, they have a lot of talent. We will keep respecting them and I'm very sure the Ghana team will give us a lot of respect.
"We wanted to win the first leg but if we couldn't win I would have settled for a draw and that's exactly what happened. Our organisation was very good, we combined well in all the lines.
"But we didn't react quickly, so that's something we have to work on because we cannot allow the Ghanaian players freedom on the ball."
Meanwhile, ex-Nigeria international custodian Peter Rufai believes the Super Eagles need an early goal to put the Black Stars under pressure on Tuesday.
"This is going to be a tough encounter, however, our dream of playing at the World Cup is in our hands right here in Abuja. All we need to do is to score an early goal because that will unsettle the Black Stars," Rufai told Complete Sports.
"I am optimistic the Ghanaian side can’t pull off an upset against us but then, we just have to watch our back so as to prevent any form of counter-attacks.
"We just have to be clinical in front of goal and punish the Black Stars for every error that they make. This is our game and we must win come Tuesday."