Ghana set to rule out Mensah for Nations Cup

Mensah is likely to miss Nations Cup

Ghana football authorities are giving up on having dependable defender John Mensah for the African Cup of Nations next month.

 
A medical report submitted to the Ghana Football Association has revealed that the stand-in captain will be out for between three to four weeks.

This means the Sunderland stalwart defender can only play from the semi finals if he recovers in three weeks' time as the tournament starts in 11 days.

 
And that only depends on the Black Stars reaching that stage of the three-week competition. 

Mensah picked up a hamstring injury in their league game against Everton which has handed coach Milovan Rajevac and the Ghana FA a dilemma.

“With John Mensah we have the medical report he is supposed to be out for three to four weeks that means it might be a bit difficult to take a decision on him being part of the team," GFA vice president Fred Pappoe said. 

“We are expecting the scan results of Paintsil but I think it's dicey. I don't think those two guys will be able to make it so we must live with that.

“The coaches will be the best to answer. We have a meeting to discuss potential replacements. At this stage it is for the coaches in conjunction with the medical team to discuss whether it is worth waiting for him.”

The Ghana FA is overly careful as former coach Claude Leroy took an injured Shilla Illiasu to the 2008 Nations Cup and he did not even play a game at the tournament they hosted.

Rajevac and the Ghana FA will discuss potential replacement later on Wednesday before deciding which other players will be handed late calls to the national team.