Head coach of the Ghana national team, CK Akonnor, has warned that his team must remain compact without the ball if they are to come away with a positive result against Sudan in the Khartoum.
The Black Stars beat the Sudanese 2-0 at the Cape Coast Stadium and will now face the North Africans later on Tuesday where a draw will be enough to book their place in the competition to be hosted by Cameroon in January 2022.
But the team will have to do without captain Andre Ayew, scorer of both goals against Sudan 5 days ago, after he picked up an injury in training and did not travel with the team.
Deputy captain, Richard Ofori is also suspended and Fatau Dauda has now been roped in to replace him.
However, Akonnor can now also count on the services of Mubarak Wakaso, Majeed Ashimeru and Jeffrey Schlupp. The trio missed the game in Ghana after travel restrictions limited their ability to join up with the squad in time.
Akonnor contends the team needs work harder without the ball or risk being exposed by the opposition.
“We need a balance. The right balance in attack and defense,” Akonnor told the GFA website.
“In our first game, we found ourselves struggling when we lost possession and that is what we have worked on since the last match.
“And so, we are looking forward to improve in that area because we gave the opponent a bit of counter attack situations.
“And of course, we expect them to come with two strikers, they are playing home, they need to win etc and so we need to better in that area and I think once we are good in that area, we will find a good situation,” he concluded.
Sudan vs Ghana is will kick off at 13:00GMT on Tuesday November 17, 2020.