Carl Ikeme: I thought Nigeria call was a joke

Wolves goalkeeper Carl Ikeme thought someone was joking with him when he was told of his first international call-up for Nigeria.

The 29-year-old will join up with the Super Eagles for their African Cup of Nations qualifier against Tanzania on September 3.

Ikeme declared his allegiance to Nigeria some years ago and will now challenge Nigeria captain Vincent Enyeama for a place in the side.

The Wolves man – surprisingly dropped for the home game against Hull City on Sunday in favour of Emiliano Martinez – only recently reaffirmed his international ambitions.

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But that didn't mean he wasn't unsure of the validity of the phone call that informed him of his first ever Nigeria call-up.

"When the message and the phone call came I thought someone was winding me up to start with," he said.

"I spoke to the coach and it started to make more sense and I realised it was none of my cousins winding me up or anything like that."

Ikeme said it was a 'no-brainer' to accept the call-up as he has close ties to the country.