Inactive Stars - headache for Rajevac

Milovan Rajevac will hit the ground running this week with visits to some of his key players in Europe but even before he undertakes that venture the Serbian must be getting wary of the dipping form of his star names, the inactivity of many others but also be gladdened by the blistering form of others.

First the good news for Rajevac is that ahead of the world cup the man most likely to be his key striker Asamoah Gyan is still scoring. Never has the man nicknamed the Baby Jet been so prolific in one season. His goal against Olympique Lyon was this 13th of the season and leaves him just two goals behind the leading scorer Mamadou Niang despite spending a month on international duty with Ghana at the Nations Cup.

In Italy, he will also meet a Kwadwo Asamoah who showed with a magnificent display in Udinese's 3-0 rout of Juventus why he will once again be the main man for Ghana in the creative sense at the world cup. Emmanuel Agyemang Badu, the other Ghanaian at Udinese was a 79th minute substitute and Rajevac will find in his time in Italy how bench warming has been the lot of many of them.

Sulley Muntari has endured a miserable second season so much so that these days when he is named in a squad, it is reason to be cheerful. And Black Stars captain who Rajevac will reportedly meet in Italy has seen the initial joy triggered by his move to Bologna evaporate after every week when the long awaited debut is postponed.

It won't be the only area where Rajevac's concerns will be. The Serbian has spoken about how experience will be crucial in how well Ghana does at the World Cup.

Problem for him is that many of the experienced names have not had the greatest of seasons. Richard Kingson gets Wigan Athletic attached to his name but he has been as good a spectator there as possible, moving this season from second choice to third choice.

John Mensah as they say in Sunderland has looked awesome when he has played but problem is he has struggled for fitness and has missed the last two. His stop-start season means Rajevac will be unwise not to be weighing up his central defence plan B in his mind.

The most crucial meetings for Rajevac are likely to come at Stanford Bridge and Chelsea's Cobham training facilities. Rajevac watched Essien crumble in training on international duty during the Nations Cup.

Since then his scheduled return has taken longer than predicted with both himself and manager Carlo Ancelotti admitting they are not certain if he will play again this season.

Rajevac will almost certainly be looking for a simple assurance from the Chelsea medical team and the player himself: would he be medically fit for it when Ghana play Serbia in the opening game and will the player be able to give a stomping display similar to what he did in Germany four years ago?

Many in Ghana will be hoping the answer to both questions will be yes similar to what they will be hoping when the Serbian meets John Paintsil.

Confidence is high in Ghana that this team can do much better than it did at the 2006 world cup in Germany but the omens in the build up to the tournament are not good. Too many injuries, too many inactive players. Hopefully Rajevac's report card when he returns from his final European mission will give renewed reasons for hope and optimism.