Stars close in on CHAN finals

Milovan Rajevac will return to the bench after a serving a one-game suspension as the Serbian attempts to steer Ghana into the finals of the African Nations Championship.

The Black Stars will come up against Senegal in Bouake on Wednesday in one of the two semi-final games of the Championship designed for locally-based footballers which started a week ago with eight sides.

A historic finals is on the cards for all four sides left in the maiden competition.

Rajevac will be pleased with his team’s efforts after Ghana finally discovered their form and how to overcome opponents after coming from behind to force draws with Zimbabwe and Libya.

But on the final day of the group matches, the Black Stars strode to a 3-0 win over DR Congo, exhibiting a performance that depicted their title credentials.

Despite their form, Ghana will be up against one of the best defending sides at the Championship with Senegal having conceded none in the group stages.

The stage will be set for the Black Stars to build on their impressive showing having peaked just about the right time as the Championship nears the business end.

Senegal have managed three clean sheets from their Group A encounters with Tanzania, Zambia and Ivory Coast.

But they will be up against a Ghana side that has found the back of the net six times with two apiece coming from Rahim Ayew and captain Edmund Owusu-Ansah, an impressive goal scoring record that no other contender for the title has.

The other semi-final will see DR Congo, who qualified alongside Ghana from Group B play Zambia in Abidjan.