Black Stars will manage Mbombela pitch concerns

Ghana coach Kwesi Appiah says the Black Stars would have preferred a better pitch than what they have seen so far of the Mbombela surface.

Concerns have been voiced about the sand-covered surface at the Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit since the start of the Africa Cup of Nations.

But ahead of the Wednesday's semi-final against either Burkina Faso or Togo, Appiah says they will see how the pitch stands up.

“We’ve watched other teams playing on that pitch and that’s one of our concerns,” Appiah said on Sunday, a day after Ghana beat Cape Verde 2-0 in the quarter-finals.

“The pitch doesn’t look good. But we haven’t got much choice. We will just have to go there, have a look at it and manage it.”

Appiah also insist that the nature of the pitch will not influence his tactics for the semi-final match.

“I always look at my opponent and how they play and we will adopt a tactic to suit it,” the Ghana coach said.

“My tactics will not be dependent on the pitch.”