Former U-20 coach J. E Sarpong says the Black Stars will need to brace themselves psychologically for the final two World Cup qualifiers against Ethiopia and South Africa.

Ghana sits second in Group G with 9 points behind leaders South Africa and can't afford to drop points in their final two games.

According to the veteran coach, the chances of Ghana making it for the Qatar 2022 World Cup will slip if the players are mentally ill for the remaining qualifiers.

"Mathematically, if you remember when we played Zimbabwe here, they lost 3-1 to us and also at the same time, South Africa were also walloping Ethiopia at their own back yard. Now we went to Zimbabwe and won by 1-0 and they [South Africa] also sat at home and won 1-0 [against Ethiopia]. So it's interesting yes, hopefully Ghana will beat Ethiopia away and then Zimbabwe will also lose to South Africa so the game will go down the wire.

"Psychologically we should beef ourselves up for a very difficult encounter with a team that is leading us. Psychologically, they may feel if they come to hold us here they will qualify. So we only need to brace ourselves psychologically and then fight for the nation and also fight for a slot in the qualifiers."

The Black Stars play Ethiopia next in Addis Ababa in November before concluding their qualifiers against South Africa in Cape Coast.

The Black Stars are hoping to make a return to the World Cup after missing out on the last edition in Russia.