Accra Hearts of Oak winger Thomas Abbey believes he will make the final squad for the 2018 CHAN qualifiers and WAFU tournament to be hosted by Ghana in September despite receiving late call-up to the Black Stars ‘B’ camp alongside Medeama’s Justice Blay and Musah Nuhu of WAFA.
Abbey, 24, has been phenomenal for the Phobians this season, scoring seven goals with three assists. His exclusion from the squad named last week sparked off a debate among football fans, but he is now expected to join his teammates in camp today at the Ghanaman Soccer Centre of Excellence at Prampram.
Abbey told the Graphic Sports over the telephone yesterday that he was excited to make it to the CHAN team finally and was determined to make good use of the opportunity offered by Coach Kwasi Appiah.
“I am not bothered at all about the late invite. The most important thing is to justify why you are there. We are many but I am confident that with God and hard work I will be able to impress the coaches and make the final squad after the justifiers,” he said.
The graduate of the University of Education Winneba (UEW), the midfielder attributed his improved performance in the first round of the Ghana Premier League to hard work and encouragement from his teammates whom he described as his source of motivation.
“I pray a lot and it is just by God’s grace that I have come this far. What I have achieved so far is by dint of hard work and the encouragement that I get from my teammates. During the pre-season, I scored a lot of goals and most of them encouraged me to transfer that feat into the league. So I owe it to God and to my teammates,” said the player who joined the Phobians from the Winneba-based side, Windy Bay.
Even though Hearts are third on the Premier League table and six points off leaders WAFA, Abbey said the Phobians had their eyes on the league title and expected a good run in the second round of the competition.
“The league title is the ultimate. We are targeting the league title and looking at our current form I believe it is achievable.”
While commending Coach Frank Nuttall and the other technical handlers for Hearts’ resurgence in the top flight competition, Abbey called on the club’s teeming fans to continue praying and supporting the team to succeed in the next round.
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