Egypt coach Hassan Shehata will hold a meeting with his assistants late on Thursday to decide on a replacement for defender Beshir Al-Tabei who was omitted from the national team.

The meeting will be held following Egypt’s match against Senegal in the final of the LG friendly tournament on Thursday evening.

A national team source said that frontrunners to replace Al-Tabei are Ahli’s Ahmed Al-Sayed and Shadi Mohamed and Ittihad’s Hamada Yousef.

El-Tabei was excluded from Egypt’s squad for the African Cup of Nations (ACN) for ditching the national team’s training camp on Wednesday night.

The Rizespor player was denied a return to camp at the orders of Shehata, who was backed by Egyptian FA president Samir Zaher.

Reports claimed the former Zamalek defender was upset for not being included in Egypt’s line-up in the Uganda match on Tuesday.

Although necessary, El-Tabei’s omission left a crack in Egypt’s back-line which now includes only three central defenders in Abdul-Zaher Al-Saqqa, Ibrahim Saied and Wael Gomaa.

Coach Shehata will be without three of his players in Thursday’s final against Senegal as Ahli trio Mohamed Barakat, Mohamed Shawki and Osama Hosni all suffered leg injuries that will sideline them for a week.