Chris Hughton bemoans Tariq Lamptey absence against Angola

Ghana head coach Chris Hughton says the absence of Tariq Lamptey will be a big miss for the team ahead of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Angola.

The Brighton and Hove Albion defender failed to recover from injury in time for the games ahead after being named in the Black Stars squad for the international break.

Tariq was later replaced by Clogne right-back, Kingsley Schindler, who is only being called up for the first time to the senior national team.

Speaking at his press conference ahead of the game against Angola, Hughton revealed Tariq is going to be a big miss for the Black Stars.

“Yes, it’s a big miss for us simply because he is only been involved for a short period of time but this is what having a squad is all about because what can happen is you can have players that can get injured two, three weeks before the International call up so you are aware there might be problems and with Tariq we knew that two weeks before that there was potentially going to be a problem,” he said.

“This is about a squad, always there are going to be difficulties, always there is going to be surprises and that can be sometimes two or three days before games, this is where you have to utilize the squad the best way you can and the players the best way you can.”

Tariq made his debut for Ghana ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar and has four caps to his name.