Andre Ayew insists Ghana will have to fulfill their ambitions at the African Cup of Nations irrespective of the opposition at hand.

Much pre-competition talk has focused on the absence of Egypt, Cameroon and Nigeria, but the Ghanaian midfielder explains that the most important opponents are the qualified teams for the tournament.

"I think if the teams with the big names aren't there, it means they didn’t deserve to be there," Andre said.

"We know sometimes things can just be difficult one season or one year and it would change later. We all know Cameroon, Egypt, Nigeria and Togo, they are all big teams in Africa. But they failed to make it."

Ghana are chasing a fifth title with their last success coming back in 1982. But for Andre, the opportunity to win hasn't been lessened due to the absence of the big nations.

"We need to believe in ourselves and believe that we’ve made it. And it means we are still on the right path and continue working hard to make it.

"We don’t need to think about the others. What we need to think about is us and believe in ourselves and know that if we do what we have to do we are going to lift the trophy," he added.

Ghana starts their Nations Cup campaign against Botswana on Tuesday in Group D before taking on Guinea and Mali in the other group games in Franceville.