Five players are set to return to the Black Stars squad ahead of their clash against the Central African Republic (CAR) in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers.
In their previous match against Madagascar, coach Hughton was without some key players who missed out due to injury for the crucial encounter which ended scoreless delaying Ghana’s qualification to their 24th AFCON tournament to be held in Ivory Coast next year.
However, the 64-year-old gaffer could be getting a good number of key players who have recuperated successfully and resumed actively.
Antoine Semenyo
The 23-year-old came off the bench to give the Black Stars an invaluable victory over Angola in Kumasi, scoring Ghana’s first goal under Hughton. However, an injury in May prevented him from reporting for the following call-up. Given his recent performance for Bournemouth in the Premier League, which included scoring an outstanding goal against Liverpool in their second game of the season, Semenyo has successfully recovered and is poised to reclaim his place in the team.
Inaki Williams
Williams was another notable omission from Hughton’s squad against Madagascar since he had to withdraw in order to concentrate on getting treatment for a persistent pain that he had been playing with toward the end of the previous season. Ransford-Yeboah Konigsdorffer was consequently brought in to take the position of the 29-year-old.
To ensure that Williams had enough time to heal for the upcoming season, he had to be left out of Athletic Bibao’s initial pre-season squad. Fortunately, the forward is in excellent condition again and has had a strong start to the 2023/24 La Liga season, scoring in the second game and providing an assist in the third for his team.
Baba Rahman
After the 2022 World Cup, Baba Rahman had been battling with injuries which saw him missing all three matches after the tournament while being kept on the sidelines for many games for Reading FC last season.
After the season, he ended his contract with Chelsea and secured a transfer to PAOK in Greece, where he has excelled during his brief presence. With Chris Hughton in charge, the 29-year-old left-back is set to get his first call-up and compete for a spot in the squad as they get ready for the pivotal match against CAR.
Alexander Djiku
Like Inaki Williams, Djiku was named in the squad for the game against Madagascar but had to be replaced by Kasim Nuhu Adams due to an ankle injury sustained in French Ligue 1.
The defender has subsequently switched clubs and looks set to return to the team and assume his vital role as centre-back alongside Daniel Amartey.
Gideon Mensah
Mensah also withdrew from the squad for the Madagascar clash after further evaluation determined that his condition was more severe than initially anticipated.
Thankfully the 25-year-old has returned from injury and is playing actively for his club Auxerre in the French Ligue 2. He lasted the full throttle in their last game against Grenoble and helped his team keep a clean sheet despite being left out in the previous two games.
