Saint-Etienne’s Ivoirian duo Ismaël Diomandé and Max Gradel may miss out on the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations.
The midfielder and the forward suffered a hamstring injury that ruled them out of Saint-Etienne’s French Cup encounter against Nancy on Sunday.
Called-up by Côte d’Ivoire’s Coach Hervé Renard ahead of the continental showpiece scheduled in Equatorial Guinea from January 17 to February 8, the two players are now set to be assessed by the Elephants’ medical staff as confirmed by Saint-Etienne’s boss Christophe Galtier at a press conference.
The news will come as a blow for Renard, who may need to replace the duo before sending his final 23-player list to CAF on January 7.
Côte d’Ivoire will begin their pre-tournament camp in Abu Dhabi on January 6 and will kick off their AFCON campaign against Guinea in Malabo on January 20 before facing Mali and Cameroon.
