Jordan Ayew has blamed 'a lack of experience' in the Ghana team for their defeat to Cape Verde in their opening game at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.

The Black Stars succumbed to a 2-1 defeat to the Blue Sharks on Sunday night handing the West Africans a nightmare start to the competition.

According to Jordan, the lack of experience in the squad for the tournament accounted for their performance in the encounter.

Chris Hughton named 19 players who are only making the AFCON squad for the first time.

“We lack a lot of experience…," the Crystal Palace forward said.

"At the end of the day, if you look at the squad that we have, more than 10 [players], this is their first AFCON so this type of mistakes will happen and we need to learn and we need to learn quick because the AFCON is not waiting for anyone…we need to stand up and face the reality."

Ghana's next game is against Egypt, who are also desperately in need of a win after drawing their opening game against Mozambique on Sunday.

Cape Verde sit top of Group B after the first round of games while Ghana occupy the bottom spot.