CK Akonnor says if one is looking for excuses why Ghana lost to South Africa, the absence of certain key players shouldn't be part of it.
England based quintet, Daniel Amartey (Leicester City), Jeffrey Schlupp (Leicester City), Jordan Ayew (Crystal Palace), Andrew Yiadom (Reading FC) and Baba Abdul Rahman (Reading FC) were not part of the team the played on Monday following the decision of Premier League clubs not to allow their players travel to COVID-19 red-listed countries including South Africa.
Others who missed the trip are Rennes forward Kamal Deen Suleymana and Daniel Kyereh of German side St. Pauli - the duo were recalled by their clubs.
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Prior to the game, CK Akonnor believed he had enough materials at his disposal to do the damage against South Africa on Monday but it proved otherwise.
"Don’t forget we invited 32 players because we were aware of the situation, so we are prepared. We knew that the England based players might not come here with us because of the COVID-19 situation and so we were prepared and we knew exactly what will happen so it’s not going to be an excuse," he said.
CK Ankonnor couldn't walk the talk after promising Ghanaians that Bafana Bafana will fall.
"It is a match that we have taken very, very seriously, when we played Ethiopia, there were certain things we needed to do, we have learnt from those things and I believe that come Monday, we will improve and we are looking to have a good match and the team is looking forward to have the three points."
"What I know is that we are now playing the qualifiers for the World Cup. In our first match, we won, we had three points, and they shared spoils with Zimbabwe and are now under pressure. You can see that they need the points badly but we also need it so bad so it’s a battle we don’t have to lose sight of.  But if we are able to be clever in the things we have to do, we will carry the day."
South Africa recorded their first win in the ongoing qualifiers for the World Cup 2022 after a slim win over the Black Stars.
Bafana Bafana secured a 1-0 win over the Black stars courtesy Bongokuhle Hlongwane's second-half strike on Monday.
The win has seen them leapfrogged the Black Stars to go top of the table with 4 points.