Super Eagles Head Coach, Stephen Keshi

Super Eagles Head Coach, Stephen Keshi, has thumbed up John Mikel Obi, John Utaka and Victor Moses following their nomination for the 2012 African Player of the Year Award.

The three Nigerians were nominated alongside 31 other African players by CAF.

Keshi believes that the nomination of the trio is a step to improving the mentality of Nigerian players.

"In a long while, our players haven't been getting mentions in the awards. The last time a Nigerian was in the last three for the awards was about a decade ago or more if I'm not mistaken.

But we have three players, Mikel Obi, John Utaka and Victor Moses, which is good for the game and also shows that our players' mentality have developed over the past one year," said Keshi.

"The three players did enough for their teams in Europe, and I believe they deserve to be mentioned."
The Super Eagles' head coach was also excited that Chelsea winger, Moses has made enough impact in less than a year to be mentioned among Africa's best 34 footballers in 2012.

"It is particularly exciting that Moses has found his way into the elite class of players in Africa within just a year of playing for us. It means we have one of Africa's best players of the future with us," Keshi said of the 21-year-old player.

Notable among nominated players for the African award are Yaya Toure, Didier Drogba, Andre Ayew, Alexander Song, Gervinho, Moussa Sow and Seydou Keita.

This year's Glo-CAF Awards Gala will be held at the Banquet Hall, State House in Accra, Ghana on December 20.