Asamoah Gyan has said that he was left on the bench against Ethiopia in Ghana’s 2:0 win on Sunday due to tactical reason.

The Kayerispor forward Asamoah Gyan never came to the party for the must-win clash in Addis Ababa but insists his bench role was necessitated due to tactical reason as the gaffer needed to protect his side’s lead with the introduction of a defensive midfielder and centre-back following massive pressure on his charges during the second half of the encounter.

“Its [substitution] was based on tactical reason as you could see that it got to a point where we were under pressure and so at that particular point, we needed a midfielder and defender and that’s why we saw Afriyie Acquah and Jonathan Mensah being introduced into the game just to keep the result intact because the pressure was becoming unbearable on us,” the Kayserispor marksman told Angel FM.

Crystal Palace forward Jordan Ayew bagged a brace prior to the half-hour mark to ensure the four-time African champions leapfrogged their opponents to a second position on the log standings.