Zifa is reportedly facing a tough task to convince Aston Villa to release Marvelous Nakamba for the Afcon qualifiers against Algeria later this month.

The Daily News claims that Villa are reluctant to release the player as a precautionary measure against the coronavirus outbreak.

The EPL club are reportedly fearing the midfielder, who is a first-team regular, could be hit with a travel restriction when he returns to the UK. They want concrete assurances and preventative measures that Zifa is going to take to protect the player from contracting the disease on national duty.

Algeria has already recorded nineteen confirmed cases of the deadly virus.

What makes it worse is the fact that the first leg will be played in Blida province where 16 of the cases have been recorded.

The encounter is scheduled for March 26.

The same challenge might also happen to other Warriors players based in Europe. These include Marshall Munetsi, Knowledge Musona, Macauley Bonne and Knowledge Musona.

Meanwhile, the Warriors have already suffered another blow after Tendai Darikwa confirmed that he won’t be fit enough to feature in the qualifiers.

The UK-based defender has been recovering from a horrific knee injury which he sustained on the eve of the English Championship season in early August.