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The Black Stars boss looks ahead to Saturday’s Group G matchday three tie in Cape Coast.

Ghana coach Milovan Rajevac has challenged Crystal Palace striker Jordan Ayew to rise to the occasion in Saturday’s 2022 World Cup qualifier against Zimbabwe.

 
The 30-year-old has struggled for goals for both club and country, bringing his selection under scrutiny.

At Palace, he has played more than 30 matches without a goal, a situation manager Patrick Vieira believes is a result of a lack of confidence and self-belief.

“This is something that is very common for goal scorers and strikers. Sometimes they have a crisis, sometimes they find it difficult to score goal but we are here to support our player and it is important for him [Jordan] to have our support and to understand that this is a team play, a team game,” Rajevac said, through an interpreter, at a pre-match press conference on Friday.

“It is important to score goals, and sometimes you assist. We have a few other strikers in the team and we believe we can make this work and I hope that his goal drought will probably end tomorrow.

“Goal scoring has been an issue but we hope that can change tomorrow. We are going to try our best to improve our goal-scoring potential.

“Of course we have to be aware there are two goals, football is a game in two directions. We have to be ready for everything in all areas and have a game plan to score goals.”

Rajevac took over as Ghana coach last month, replacing CK Akonnor after the Black Stars lost 1-0 away to South Africa.

Victory over Zimbabwe on Saturday will not only bring the Stars back to winning ways but could also secure a spot back at the top of the table.

“I have my philosophy and the purpose of football is to try to win matches. Like I said before, the next match is the most important,” Rajevac said.

“Our next match against Zimbabwe will be different from the friendly match we played [against a club side], we can expect something at a higher level.

“This a competitive match and we are going to give our best to win. This is our goal and our target, so we will use all our capacity and try to win three points.

“We will do our best to make everybody happy and try to deliver a good performance and a positive result for all of us.”

Ghana are seeking a fourth qualification for the World Cup.