Asamoah Gyan will play no active role in Al Ain’s big-league clash against Al Ahli in the UAE top-flight on Monday evening, the Ghana striker’s official website has confirmed.

The 28-year-old has been unable to recover in time from a thigh strain despite concerted efforts by doctors of the UAE club and a personal therapist.

Gyan returned to light training alone with a personal trainer on Saturday evening to ignite Al Ain hopes of his fitness for today’s clash against their bitterest rivals in the Arabian Gulf League.

His steady progress in recovery has however not been fast enough to be match fit for the game to be played at the Al-Rashid Stadium in Dubai.

Gyan will thus not be named in Al Ain’s match day squad by coach Zlatko Dalic.

The development will come as a major blow to the Croatian trainer who was hoping to have his reliable goal-machine fit for the big derby on Monday night.

But the decision has been taken not to risk the Black Stars captain and not to disrupt his recovery schedule.

The ex Sunderland man will continue with his treatment and is expected to be fit soon.

He is likely to return in Al Ain’s next league match against Al Jazira on November 6 before signing off to join the Ghana camp for next month’s final round of 2015 AFCON qualifiers against Uganda and Togo.