Portsmouth striker Nwankwo Kanu has denied reports he has had a bust-up with Nigeria coach Shaibu Amodu.Nigeria are currently gearing up for the opening match of the African Nations Cup campaign against Egypt on Tuesday, but reports in the media had claimed there was disharmony in the camp as Kanu questioned Amodu's tactics.

However, Kanu insists the stories have no basis in truth and feels it is an attempt to unsettle the squad prior to the tournament.

"It is all lies. People are just spreading rumours to destabilise our team," he told Kick Off Nigeria. "We don't need that at this time.

"The coach is the one who selects the team and, if we have our opinion as players, it is just to make suggestions, and not to question him or his decisions."

Meanwhile, Kanu has expressed his sympathy to Togo over the gunfire incident on Friday in which three people on the team bus were killed by rebels.

"We were shocked to hear about what happened to the Togolese," he said. "I tried to call Adebayor but I couldn't reach him.

"We were a bit worried because we heard the story immediately we landed in Angola, but our officials assured us that we are safe here and that they have arranged to give us extra security. We just pray that nothing like this happens again. It is sad that people had to die like this."