Wakaso is due for his first Black Stars appearance since the Nations Cup at the start of the year in Gabon and told KweséESPN missing out on international duty had been difficult to endure.

"We have been together for years so I am happy to be back," he said. "When you have it in you and you are denied, you feel it automatically, you feel something is wrong. I am just very happy to be back. When you stay back at the club during the international window you don't have much respect to your colleagues who leave for international duty. They know I was a regular at international level so I got asked a lot of questions. Now that I am back everything is fine," he added.

Sunday's match against the Pharoahs in Kumasi will have no bearing on the 2018 World Cup with the Egyptians already through to the Russian tournament but Wakaso wants the Black Stars to make a point.

"For me the attitude has to be the same; play our hearts out. Our football reputation is very strong and we need to protect that on Sunday."