Two prolific Nigerian footballers Mikel Obi and Peter Osaze Odemwingie spoke about what they were up to. Chelsea midfielder, who has been recently criticized over his below-par outings for the club, promised to win back hearts of his fans soon, The Tribune reports.

After the arrival of Nemanja Matic and return of  Jose Mourinho the Nigerian spends most of the games on the substitute bench.

However the 27-year-old is optimistic about his future as he told in the interview to Bolton FC’s website:

“I take the critics seriously but my coaches have been complimentary (of my performance). I have been involved with matches for my country and the club which play different styles, as professionals we know it can be difficult. As a player, I must look to improve because the fans want more.”

Speaking about the Wednesday’s Chelsea 2-1 Bolton game, Mikel characterized it as a challenging one.

“This game was hardly different from the one we had at the weekend. Both Man City and Bolton challenged us, the diffence is that we drew one and won one. We are happy.”

Meanwhile the Super Eagles head coach Stephen Keshi vowed he would not give up on Mikel saying he is a very important part of the squad:

 “Just because he is not playing in his team (Chelsea), that does not mean I cannot use him in my team, that’s the coaches’ choice.”

Stoke City striker Osaze Odemwingie is recovering after the surgery and hopes to return “stronger than ever”.

It would be recalled that the footballer last month suffered an injury in the match against Manchester City. Shortly after the knock-out he tweeted that the knee surgery was required.

In a recent interview Odemwingie told BBC:

“I’m happy the operation was successful, it’s like a new beginning. I want to come back stronger than ever and hopefully pick up from where I stopped in August.”

It is none of a secret that in the last season Osaze played the key role  in 15 Premier League appearances, scoring 6 goals. He also scored once for the Super Eagles in the course of the 2014 FIFA Champions League.

Despite the fact that he will not be able to to play until January at the earliest, Osaze keeps his chin up and focuses on the long-term goals.

“I know it’s going to be a long road back to kicking a football again but I am mentally prepared for that. You can’t keep a good man down. It took couple of weeks to get the surgery done because I had to wait for the knee to settle down. Now that it’s done I believe it will give me a new lease of life for the rest of my professional career.”