Ghana AFCON 2021 squad: Crystal Palace forward Jordan Ayew in as Milovan Rajevac names 30-man squad

Crystal Palace forward Jordan Ayew has been named in the Black Stars provisional squad for the upcoming 2021 Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon.

The four-time African champions are among the 24 countries to partake in the prestigious tournament set for January 2022.

Ghana will be searching for a fifth AFCON trophy next year after last winning it in 1982.

The much-anticipated tournament has been slated between January 9 and February 6, 2022 in the Central African country.

Ghana coach, Milovan Rajevac on Tuesday announced a 30-man provisional squad for the continental showpiece.

In his list, the Crystal Palace attacker who recently ended his goal drought at the club earned a place in the Black Stars team for the tournament.

Ayew scored the equalizer for Palace when they played a 2-2 draw against Southampton on home turf last week.

He is expected to play a key role for the national in the quest of ending the 40-year trophy drought.

Black Stars will commence their preparations in Doha, Qatar on December 23 and will be in the Asian country for a period of three weeks.

They will play three games to give coach Rajevac the opportunity to assess his squad.

Ghana are expected to play a yet to named club side on Tuesday, December 28, before taking on one of the qualified teams (Egypt or Sudan) on Friday, January 1, 2022, in another friendly.

The team will wrap up their test matches against African Champions Algeria on January 5.

Ghana has been paired with Morocco, Gabon and Comoros at the 33rd AFCON tournament.

The delayed tournament will start on January 9 with the Black Stars playing their first match the next day against Morocco.

Their next game is against Gabon on January 14 before wrapping up their group stage campaign four days later against debutants Comoros.