Odion Ighalo believes the additional travelling he has undertaken this season to represent Nigeria has taken its toll during Watford’s Premier League campaign.

International football is still new to the Hornets striker. He’d never represented the Super Eagles prior to his move to Vicarage Road, despite plying his trade in the top tier of Spanish football for Granada.

The 26-year-old finally got the call up he’d always wished for in June last year, fresh off the back of helping Watford win promotion to the Premier League with an astonishing burst of goals during the final five months of Watford’s Championship season.

After the summer break, Ighalo picked up from where he’d left off. He scored on the opening day against Everton and struck 13 more times before the start of 2016. His form was rewarded with further international recognition and he travelled back to Nigeria in both October and November for friendly matches and African Cup of Nations qualifiers respectively.

But in the immediate Premier League games that followed those trips, Arsenal and Manchester United at home, Ighalo struggled to perform. It was the same scenario in March ahead of Watford’s match against the Gunners at the Emirates.

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement