Swansea City will be left facing a nervous wait over the condition of forward Andre Ayew after he limped off the field at the end of Ghana’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Sao Tome and Principe.

Ayew captained his country during the game and played the full 90 minutes for Ghana as they ran out 3-1 winners. However, following the game an update was provided by Joy997FM reporter Gary Al-Smith. He revealed that the Swansea forward was looking in a lot of discomfort at the final whistle and looked in a bit of trouble with footage shared of him limping off the field.

However, Al-Smith also revealed that early reports were indicating to him that the injury was not too much of a serious one and that the forward could be alright. Swansea will have to hope now that is the case with Ayew crucial to any hopes that Steve Cooper’s side have of going on to secure a place in the top two when the campaign gets back underway.

The injury concern comes after Ayew had already missed his nation’s first qualifier of the international break against South Africa in an attempt to ensure that he is within quarantine rules and can would not have to quarantine when he returns. Cooper’s side will now have to wait for him to return to properly assess his condition.

The verdict

This is the last thing that Swansea would have been wanting to see, with Ayew a crucial performer for them and they can not really afford to lose his presence during the run-in. However, Cooper might have to seriously consider not risking him now on Friday against Birmingham City even if the injury is not too serious and it might be better to let him rest fully.

The forward has fired in 14 goals and two assists (Sofascore) making him by far the club’s main goalscorer this campaign and in a side that is not prolific going forwards that is a massive influence. It is vital that he remains fit if they are going t be able to close the gap to Watford and secure a place in the automatic promotion places come the end of the campaign.

Swansea will be frustrated that he has played the full 90 minutes for his nation in a game where he might have been able to come off the field once they had moved into a two-goal advantage. However, that is the risk with players going away on international duty and it is the same issue for a lot of clubs in and around the top six.