Black Stars assistant coach Mas-Ud Didi Dramani has responded to concerns about the absence of Thomas Partey from the squad as Ghana hosts Madagascar in their Group opener for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.
The Arsenal midfielder missed out on coach Otto Addo’s final squad for the two games due to injury he picked at his club side, which many have expressed worry over.
Ghana Captain Andre Ayew has returned to the squad after his red card suspension, but many believe that the absence of Partey may be felt hugely against Madagascar.
Responding to the concerns, Didi Dramani admitted the unavailability of Partey would certainly be felt, but insists that it would as well give opportunity to other players to prove their worth as the technical team look forward to building an all-round team.
“Every team will wish to have a full complement of the squad but in the absence of an important player like Thomas in any squad, surely is not a good news but on the other hand it gives others opportunities to be seen and to add value to the squad as part of team building process”, Didi Dramani told ghanasportspage.com.
He however admitted that the team will miss the influential midfielder, and quickly wished him a speedy recovery.
“We will surely miss Thomas and this would have been great to have him and the return of the Captain as well in this very important games.We surely wish him a more speedy recovery”, he added.
Ghana will host Madagascar in their first match in the AFCON 2023 qualifiers at the Cape Coast sports stadium at 7:00pm local time on Wednesday.
