Legendary former Ghana player Mohammed Ahmed Polo has urged Black Stars coach C.K Akonnor to be his own man and not allow officials or the powers that be to interfere in his team selection ahead of the African Cup of Nations (AFCON).

In the run up to the last two AFCON qualifying matches against South Africa and Sao Tome and Principe, there were reports that some players were smuggled into C.K Akonnor's roster of invited players.

Although the Ghana FA denied those reports there was clearly some confusion with the selection for those two matches.

Speaking in an interview with Graphic Sports, the 1978 AFCON winner has told C.K Akonnor to be his own man if he wants to end Ghana's nearly four decade AFCON drought.

"Under no circumstance should Akonnor allow officialdom to interfere in his team selection because he will be the one football fans will criticise if anything goes wrong.

"[Former Ghana coach] Kwasi Appiah had that opportunity but he could not break the jinx, hence the need for Akonnor to do so at the next tournament in Cameroon when the best in Africa assemble to fight for honours."

Ghana has been waiting nearly four decades since last winning the AFCON title in 1982 in Libya although since then Ghana has finished runner up in 1992, 2010 and 2015.