Abuja – The Super Eagles will as from Monday, Dec. 16 train twice a day in preparation for the 2014 African Nations Championship (CHAN), an official said on Sunday in Abuja.

A statement by Ben Alaiya, the team’s Media Officer, said the team would henceforth train both in the morning and in the evening.

It said the training would be shifted from the astro-turf FIFA Goal Project pitch to the training pitch of the Abuja National Stadium.

The statement quoted Alaiya as saying this was to enable the players get used to playing on natural grass.

“Organisers of CHAN 2014 will use natural turf for the tournament,’’ it said.

CHAN 2014 is scheduled to hold in South Africa from Jan. 11 to Feb. 1.

The statement further explained the decision by the team’s Stephen Keshi-led technical crew to return the team to its usual twice daily training session.

It said it was for the crew to quickly prune down the number of players in the team’s camp in Abuja from 30 to 23.

“There is little time left for the technical crew to prune down the present squad from 30 players to 23.

“Hence, there is the need to intensify training and get the best out of the players in the camp.

“It’s expected that by the end of the week the team would have been pruned down in preparation for departure to South Africa in the first week of January,’’ Keshi was quoted in the statement as saying.

The statement also said the Eagles training session was returning to twice daily following the conclusion of the National Youth Games (NYG).(NAN)