The Head Coach of Sierra Leone National team, John Keister has said that the team is making efforts to convince Chelsea defender Trevoh Chalobah to represent Sierra Leone in the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).

Keister said this in an interview monitored by Sierraloaded before the AFCON draw held in Cameroon yesterday.

The Leone Stars qualified for AFCON 2022 after finishing second of Group L of the Nations Cup qualifiers, winning one match, drawing four and losing one.

The West Africa nation will be making their third appearance in the competition were they aim to exceed their best performance in the group stage exit.

Sierra Leone has been placed in group E alongside Equatorial Guinea, Ivory Coast and Algeria.

“We want to go to Cameroon and do well there and perform well and then we will be able to move forward, we just have to put a good plan in the preparations”, Keister said.

He continued, “We have a team that is a mixture of youth and experience and they have great ambitions in the tournament. Everyone is looking forward to this event. There are also some players in Europe that we are trying to convince them to represent Sierra Leone, such as Trevoh Chalobah, the Chelsea player, who has Sierra Leonean nationality alongside England, and he will be a good addition if he joins us.”

He concluded, “There are positive indications regarding Chalobah and his representation for the Sierra Leone national team. We will talk to him again and we will try to convince him to play with us and I am confident of our success. Chalobah is a young player with a great future awaiting him and he performs impressively in the Premier League, so it would be great if he agreed to choose Sierra Leone.”

Chalobah was instrumental in Chelsea’s victory in the European Super Cup, and then scored a goal a few days later against Crystal Palace in the first round of the English Premier League.

Meanwhile, the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2021 competition will be held in Cameroon between 9th January – 6th February 2022.