20100117
allafrica

Milovan Rajevac is hoping Michael Essien will be fit to start Ghana's African Nations Cup Group B decider against Burkina Faso on Tuesday.

Ghana's campaign prior to their arrival in Angola has been fraught with injuries resulting in some player withdrawals.

Essien, who came on as a halftime substitute in Friday's 3-1 defeat by Ivory Coast, only joined the squad on Wednesday after bad weather delayed his departure from London.

"Essien came in only two days ago and he was injured," Rajevac told a news conference, referring to the hamstring problem that had kept his captain out for more than a month.

"He was not ready to play 90 minutes, he was actually not really ready to play 45 minutes. It was a big risk.

"We have three rest days so we hope he will be ready to start against Burkina Faso."

Ghana are bottom of Group B with no points and need to beat Burkina Faso, second on one point to reach the last eight.

The group is a three-team affair after Togo left the competition in the wake of a deadly gun attack on their team bus last week. - Ghana FA