Black Stars assistant coach Didi Dramani has opened up on the absence of the Black Stars duo of Thomas Partey and Tariq Lamptey ahead of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.

Ghana will be competing for the title in neighbouring country, Ivory Coast as the search for a fifth AFCON title continues.

The West African powerhouse will open its account against Cape Verde on Sunday, January 14, 2024, before taking on Egypt and Mozambique on January 18 and 22 respectively in Group B.

“We are focusing on players available now. As coaches and as football people, we need to support our players in their transitional cases and that’s their welfare. Example; We had a friendly game with Japan, it was that time Alexander Djiku wanted to marry and you can’t ask him to stop his marriage and come and play the game” he said in an audio aired on Wontumi FM monitored by Footballghana.com.

“When you give a player that liberty any time you need him, he will be available for you. With Partey’s issue, he is likely to be fully fit late and that might be towards the end of the tournament and that won’t help the team”

“Of course Thomas Partey and Tariq Lamptey are all category A players that every coach would like to work with them in times like this. If they would be available five days before the tournament or will miss the first match, indeed we would welcome them happily and that would be an advantage for the team but unfortunately, it isn’t like that with us. Players need to get more playing time before handing them a call up”

The tournament is scheduled to kick off on Saturday, January 13 through to February 11, 2024.

Ghana have a history of success in the AFCON, having won the title four times, most recently in 1982. However, they have experienced defeat in three finals since then, including losses to Ivory Coast in 1992 on penalties and Egypt in 2010, as well as a repeat defeat to Ivory Coast in 2015.