Hearts of Oak head coach Mas-Ud Didi Dramani has expressed concern over the timing of the 2025 GHALCA Top 4 competition, which kicks off today at the University of Ghana Sports Stadium.
The Phobians will battle Asante Kotoko, Bibiani GoldStars, and Heart of Lions in this year’s edition of the pre-season tournament.
Speaking ahead of Hearts’ opener against Heart of Lions, Dramani admitted the competition is useful for Ghana’s football calendar but cautioned that many players are not yet fully conditioned to last 90 minutes at this stage of pre-season.
“I think that it is a very good program for the football industry, but the timing of it is worrisome,” Dramani said.
“We need to try to alter the substitutions so that, in this [Heart of Lions] game, for instance, if you have just worked for two weeks, you don’t go in for a high-profile game.
“If you can do multiple substitutions, then it’s easy for you to bring in more legs so that you don’t stress. I estimated 60 minutes for some players, but I ended up pushing them to 90 minutes.
“For me, deloading is so, so important when you really want to keep players fit,” he added.
Hearts of Oak face Heart of Lions in their opening fixture, with kick-off scheduled for 18:00 GMT.
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