Chris Hughton on Why He Invited Nicholas Opoku : Ghana head coach Chris Hughton has praised the strengths and qualities of Amiens SC defender Nicholas Opoku after inviting him to fill the central defensive voids created by the absence of Alexander Djiku and Mohammed Salisu at the Black Stars ahead of Monday’s 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualification match against Angola.
Strasbourg defender Djiku started last Thursday’s AFCON qualifier against the Angolans at the Babayara sports stadium as the Black Stars won 1-0.
The France-based center back picked an injury and was replaced by Joseph Aidoo in the 87th minute whilst Salisu did not form part of the Ghana squad at all.
Speaking on why he invited Nicholas Opoku , Hughton said the following :
“I don’t know Nicholas as well as some of the staff members and the players here do. So it was good to see him, not so long ago and reintroduce himself to the players so this was good. I have watched a lot of games, videos, I can tell you that not so much live because it’s difficult to get round to watch so many live games.” . Hughton told ghanafa.org.
“But I have always known of Nicholas. I know his strength, he needs no introduction. He is somebody that comes in easily; he has played games before so that transition is easy for him coming into the squad.
We lost three players in Djiku, Denis Odoi and Andre from the last game.
I felt that we were covered enough in the offensive positions and instead of bringing two defenders in because we lost two defenders; I thought we just get the balance right to bring in one.
Because I think we have a couple of players that can play in a couple of positions and I didn’t want to bring too many players. Nicholas is somebody that we know; he knows the players and I think the transition is easy.” , the Black Stars head coach added.
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