Mikel angry at Nigeria team-mates

By Oluwashina Okeleji
BBC Sport, Sekondi

Obi believes that reaching the semi-finals will be a tough task

John Mikel Obi says his Nigerian team-mates need to concentrate more and take responsibility for their mistakes following their defeat to Ivory Coast.

The 1-0 victory for the Ivorians leaves Nigeria joint bottom of Group B as they attempt to get their Africa Cup of Nations campaign back on track.

"We made one mistake and that was the goal. When you make such mistakes you pay dearly for it," he told BBC Sport.

"We should learn from them and people should take full responsibility."

The 20-year-old midfielder added: "If we can do that, we've got a long way to go in this tournament, because we've got a good team and we played well.

"We just need to concentrate all the time if we want to achieve anything."

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Nigeria are still to face Mali and Benin in their remaining Group B matches.

The Super Eagles have reached the semi-finals at each Nations Cup they have contested since 1976, with the exception of the 1982 tournament.

But Mikel accepts that it will not be easy to reach the last four this time.

"There are no pushovers here, we just need to go into the games with determination.

"If we play like we did against Ivory Coast but with more focus, we will earn our wins.

"But it will be very tough."