Coach: Milovan Rajevac Players: Daniel Addo Eric Addo Lee Addy Dominic Adiya Daniel Adjei Opuko Agyemang Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu Matthew Amoah Anthony Annan Aziz Ansah Stephen Appiah Kwadwo Asamoah Andre Ayew Rahim Ayew Michael Essien Asamoah Gyan Samuel Inkoom Richard Kingson Sulley Muntari John Pantsil Jonathan Quartey Issac Vorsah

Ghana will head to the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations as one of the favourites to claim a trophy the four-time winners have not got their hands on for 28 years.

Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien scored the goal against Sudan in September that clinched the first place at the 16-team tournament, as well as the World Cup finals.

The 27-year-old is undoubtedly Ghana's star name and forms arguably the strongest midfield trio in Africa at the moment alongside Inter Milan's Sulley Muntari and skipper Stephen Appiah.

However, there is concern about the availability of all three players, with both Essien and Appiah struggling to be fit in time for the Black Stars' January 11 opener against Togo.

Essien was ruled out for up to a month after sustaining a hamstring injury with Chelsea on December 8, while Appiah suffered another setback in December after missing most of the past two years with a knee problem.

To add to the problems, the commitment of Essien, his close friend Muntari plus Asamoah Gyan has been questioned after they skipped a November friendly against tournament hosts Angola.

The trio claimed they had permission to do so, but the Ghana Football Association denied that and opened an investigation amid a media and public outcry.

For Ghana fans it reprised memories of the 2006 Orange AFCON, ANGOLA 2010 when the same three players pulled out on the eve of that tournament with suspect injuries that undermined the Black Stars' campaign before they went out in the group stage.

Fearing a similar episode, fans and media called for the players to be punished and while Essien and Muntari have since apologised, the matter has polarised opinion.

It has cast Serbian coach Milovan Rajevac into an unyielding position of trying to balance team discipline against keeping his key players happy in a World Cup year but with a difficult group that pits Ghana against their three cross-border rivals Ivory Coast, Togo and Burkina Faso, a ban seems unlikely.

From a player perspective, Fulham defender John Pantsil has called for the matter to be dropped and said: "We need every player to make the team great.

"The fans will need to rally behind the team. It's a time to focus."

Away from the controversy, Rajevac is set to turn to some of the Ghana team that won the Under-20 World Cup in October.

Striker Dominic Adiyiah was the star of the tournament when he claimed the golden shoe with eight goals, before scoring the decisive penalty in the shootout win over Brazil in the final.

The 20-year-old would bolster a strikeforce that relied on Matthew Amoah's four goals in qualifying, while at the back there are also injury worries over Sunderland's on-loan defender John Mensah (calf).

"Several other players face a race against time to be fit but we are still hoping to hit top form at the right time," Rajevac said.

"It (the squad) will be a blend of youth and experience, comprising players who have been the national team's backbone over the years and those who shone in Ghana's Under-20 World Cup triumph."