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Ghana's sports minister Nii Lante Vanderpuye claims Kwadwo Asamoah's absence is a contributory factor to the Black Stars recent struggles.

Asamaoh, who plays for Italian giants Juventus, has been battling injuries the last two years and that has kept him away from the national team.

The talented midfielder has not played for Ghana since featuring at the 2014 FIFA World Cup finals in Brazil.

Asamoah returned to injury but head coach Avram Grant has been unsuccessful in dragging back into the team.

The Black Stars have been unimpressive in the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers after picking up just one point in two matches.

Vanderpuye, a former sports journalist with the state-owned Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, thinks the return of Asamoah will make the team stronger.

''With the return of Kwadwo Asamoah and Asamoah Gyan in the next match. I think the absence of Kwadwo Asamoah is one of the reasons why we having the difficulties. He's a game changer, he's been magnificent in all our World Cup qualifying matches,'' he told Viasat TV.

''Him coming back into the team, let's pray injury does not any of our regular stars, we should be able to qualify to the World Cup.''