Former Ghana midfielder Laryea Kingston is ruing what he says is a lack of meritocracy in current team under Avram Grant.

A swashbuckling player in his day, Kingston argues that this worrying trend contributed to the team's choking at the semifinal of the competition this year - the sixth straight time the Black Stars have crashed out at this stage.

“...the coach refused to give opportunities to most of the players he took there, and I think if don’t have confidence in them, there is no reason why you should take them there,” he lamented to GHOne TV.

The side lost the bronze medal match against Burkina Faso on Saturday, extending the west Africans' trophy drought to more than 35 years. Having represented Ghana in two Nations Cups, Kingston knows what it takes to have merited players at such events.

“For me I don’t [think] this selection to the national team is based on merit, and it really affected the team. In our [last Group D] game against Egypt, I expected him to make changes so that as we progressed in the competition you will know the kind of player to replace the other at any point in time, but it wasn’t in that case.”

Grant is expected to mutually agree with his employers not to extend his contract, which expires at the end of the month.