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Black Stars coach, Chris Hughton says Gideon Mensah insisting on joining the team and playing against Madagascar despite his injury.
The AJ Auxerre has been excused the squad invited for the matchday five games against Madagascar in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers on Sunday.
Mensah was not being able to recover in time from an injury he sustained while playing for AJ Auxerre in the just-ended French Ligue 1 campaign.
Mensah was a constant figure for the French outfit in every game as they battled regulation in the latter part of the season, something Hughton believes may have been the rationale behind his injury.
“His club had been managing an injury that he has but this is someone that has been playing in all the games. And maybe some of that is because his team were obviously in a very difficult position,” Hughton told the press.
“Sometimes you get the feel from a player, a player who is maybe not so confident in coming [to the national team] or a player who wants to come. Gideon wanted to be here and that is a good sign.
“This is somebody that wanted to be here in camp so it was our responsibility to assess him with the medical information and come to a conclusion. The conclusion is that probably at this stage we didn’t want to risk him.”
The Black Stars are expected to leave the shores of the country later today for the game that is scheduled to kick off at 17:00GMT at Mahamasina Municipal Stadium in Antananarivo.
The AJ Auxerre has been excused the squad invited for the matchday five games against Madagascar in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers on Sunday.
Mensah was not being able to recover in time from an injury he sustained while playing for AJ Auxerre in the just-ended French Ligue 1 campaign.
Mensah was a constant figure for the French outfit in every game as they battled regulation in the latter part of the season, something Hughton believes may have been the rationale behind his injury.
“His club had been managing an injury that he has but this is someone that has been playing in all the games. And maybe some of that is because his team were obviously in a very difficult position,” Hughton told the press.
“Sometimes you get the feel from a player, a player who is maybe not so confident in coming [to the national team] or a player who wants to come. Gideon wanted to be here and that is a good sign.
“This is somebody that wanted to be here in camp so it was our responsibility to assess him with the medical information and come to a conclusion. The conclusion is that probably at this stage we didn’t want to risk him.”
The Black Stars are expected to leave the shores of the country later today for the game that is scheduled to kick off at 17:00GMT at Mahamasina Municipal Stadium in Antananarivo.