Ghana will have to negotiate the final two 2015 Nations Cup qualifying games without captain and top scorer Asamoah Gyan as well as influential midfielder Kwadwo Asamoah.
The pair have been excluded from coach Maxwell Konadu�s squad for the trip to Kampala to face Uganda and the home tie against Togo that will determine whether Ghana will book a place at the biennal African football showpiece which is in doubt itself.
Gyan has been out since picking up a knee injury at clubside Al Ain in late October while Asamoah hobbled off with an inflammation of the knee in midweek that his club side Juventus say will take two weeks to heal.
In the absence of Gyan, Maxwell Konado has sprung a major surprise by calling up Saudi Arabia based Emmanuel Osei Banahene while ignoring Richmond Boakye Yiadom of Atalanta in the English Premier League.
There is also no place in the squad for Frank Acheampong who has been terrific this season for Anderlecht especially in their high profile games against Arsenal in the European Champions League.
Gyan�s absence also leaves a gaping hole in attack with the captain having contributed three goals in qualifying in four games for the Black Stars already. And with Jordan Ayew suspended and Majeed Warris lacking on goal scoring form, the trip to Kampala on Saturday could prove testing for the Black Stars.
Another area of concern has to be goalkeeping where Norway-based Adam Kwarasey is still unavailable after his major public fall-out with the technical team. Instead the goalkeeping slot goes to Fatau Dauda and Stephen Adams who have barely at club level in the last four months and Razak Braimah, based in Spain.
Ghana needs three points from the two games to seal their place at next year�s Nations Cup. The Black Stars will begin training in Accra on Tuesday and travel to Kampala on Tursday ahead of Saturday�s game.
Ghana squad
Goalkeepers: Fatau Dauda (AshGold), Adams Stephen (Aduana Stars) and Razak Braimah (Mirandes FC, Spain)
Defenders: Yaw Frimpong (TP Mazembe, DR Congo), Harrison Afful (Esperance FC, Tunisia), Awal Mohammed (Maritzburg, South Africa), Baba Rahman (FC Augsburg, Germany), Jeffery Schlupp (Leicester City, England), John Boye (Erciyesspor, Turkey), Kwabena Adusei (Mpumalanga Black Aces, South Africa) and Jonathan Mensah (Evian, France)
Midfielders: Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu (Udinese, Italy), Rabiu Mohammed (Krasnodar, Russia), Mubarak Wakaso (Celtic, Scotland), Atsu Christian (Everton, England), Asante Solomon (T.P. Mazembe, DR Congo), Gyimah Edwin (Mpumalanga Black Aces, South Africa), Afriyie Acquah (Parma FC, Italy) Andre Ayew (Olympique Marseille, France)
Strikers: Jordan Ayew (Lorient, France), Abdul-Majeed Waris (Trabzonspor, Turkey), David Accam (Helsenborg, Sweden), Emmanuel Osei Banahene, (Al Orobah, Saudi Arabia).
Source: Ghana FA
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