The headlines since Friday have surrounded the fitness of the Chelsea midfielder following his return to competitive action against the Ivory Coast after a month on the sidelines with a hamstring problem.

Essien suffered another setback while training on Sunday when he picked up a knock to his right knee, ruling him out of the final game.

After losing their first match 3-1 to the Elephants, the Black Stars must now win the last match in Group B, which was reduced to three teams following the withdrawal of Togo.

Rajevac’s team are bottom of the table, one point below the Stallions, who drew with the Ivorians in their opening game, and the Serbian coach knows his World Cup-bound side can ill afford another slip up.

“Against Ivory Coast, their quality and experience was key to the victory,” he said.

“We must do our best to prepare for the game and win it”.

With injuries having plagued the Ghana squad right through the build-up, there is one piece of good news in the form of midfielder Anthony Annan, who will return after a knee problem.

In contrast, Burkina Faso have had a quiet build-up to the game following their opening match more than a week ago.

Coach Paulo Duarte, whose side claimed one of the early surprise results of the tournament by holding Ivory Coast to a goalless draw, is confident they can progress to the next stage.

“That goalless draw has allowed us to start thinking of qualifying for the last eight,” he said. “Now we have to take on another World Cup qualifier in Ghana, but my team has the ability to put in a good performance.”

The Burkinabe is that the team are injury-free heading into the game.