"It is very disappointing for me to be missing the African Cup of Nations," the Egyptian striker was quoted as saying by The Daily Mail on Monday.

"I've played in the last three tournaments and I really wanted to be out there to help the lads and my country but I've been injured for three months."

Mido suffered from a pelvic inflammation and was sidelined since October.

Some Egyptians never believed the injury would rule Mido out of the tournament and accused him of faking a lengthy lay-off to stay with Middlesbrough.

But Mido sent medical reports to the Egyptian FA confirming his injury and said officials in Cairo never tried to rush him into action.

"I spoke to the manager and the Egyptian FA to explain my situation and they totally understand that it would be very difficult for me to take part," he added.

Mido played 45 minutes with Boro reserves against Newcastle last week before coming off the bench in the 2-0 victory over Mansfield in the FA Cup on Saturday.

He hopes to play bigger role in Middlesbrough's Cup campaign to make up for his three-month absence.

"Now I would like to think that helping Middlesbrough get to the semi-finals or the final of the FA Cup would make up for that disappointment," Mido said.

"It was a tough injury, the kind where you couldn't really do anything with it so it was very frustrating so I'm glad I'm playing again."