Michael Essien will return to the Black Stars fold for the Nations Cup qualifier against Congo, Ghana Football Association president Kwesi Nyantekyie has re-iterated.

The Chelsea midfielder has not played for Ghana since a forty-five minute appearance at the Nations Cup in 2010 against Ivory Coast.

He has since not given a definite word on his return suggesting at a point that he was unsure about the March return.

But Nyantekyie is in no doubt Essien will be available for the game against Congo in a Nations Cup qualifier in March and for an international friendly against England a few days later."

"We should have Essien for both the Congo game and against England for the international friendly," Nyantekyie told KickOffGhana.com. "He stayed away for a reason but we have seen back and we have seen play consistently for Chelsea now."

New Ghana boss Goran Stevanovic has made the return of the midfielder a major priority and is planning to thrash out the issues with the player in a meeting soon.