Black Stars open to Accra match venue

Competition: 2012 African Nations Cup Qualifier

Teams: Ghana v Swaziland

Venue: Accra Sports Stadium - Accra

Date: September 2, 2011

Time: 17:00 GMT [5:00PM Local Time]

John Paintsil has played down suggestions that the national team prefers playing away from the Accra Sports Stadium.

The Black Stars return to the capital on Friday for their penultimate qualifying match against Swaziland in Group I of the 2012 African Nations Cup.

With the Baba Yara Stadium in Kumasi having hosted majority of the senior team's matches in the past two years, the Leicester City defender has told GHANAsoccernet that the Accra Sports Stadium is not a difficult venue.

“No, it is not true we don’t feel comfortable playing in Accra,” Paintsil said on Monday ahead of the team's first training session the next day.

“We have been playing a lot of games in Accra and the fans have always been supportive of us.

“We don’t feel pressure at all when playing in Accra we only have to believe in ourselves so it doesn’t really matter where we play.”

The Black Stars sit top of Group I with a better goal advantage ahead of Sudan in the qualifying for the finals in Gabon-Equatorial Guinea.