Black Stars call up: Akonnor explains why Southampton defender Salisu Mohammed was excluded

Ghana coach Charles Kwablan Akonnor has explained why defender Mohammed Salisu was excluded from the squad picked for the upcoming friendly against Mali.

According to Akonnor, the youngster was left out from the 23-man squad due to his fitness after completing his switch to the English Premier League side Southampton last month.

The 23 years highly-rated  Ghanaian defender is yet to earn a national team call-up to featured for native country Ghana.

His exclusion from the recent call-up did raise some eyebrows in some quarters but in truth, he is yet to play for the Southampton after from Spanish side Real Valladolid in a deal worth around £10.9 million.

According to Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhüttl, Salisu’s inability to feature in the English Premiership after weeks of joining is attributed to lack of fitness and is believed coach Akonnor is counting on the same reasons for the youngster’s exclusion.

“He is not in the team because I heard his coach spoke about him in terms of fitness level,’ Akonnor said.

“They are looking at October after the national games before he will be back.

“Based on that, I want to give him a chance to rest and get fit and start a game in Southampton, and then we will look forward to get him on board.”

Ghana will take on Mali in an international friendly on October 9 in Antalya, Turkey.