Mubarak Wakaso says he was not surprised by his outstanding performance in Ghana’s opening 2017 AFCON qualifier due to his hard work behind the scenes. 

The midfielder was widely considered as Ghana's best player in the 7-1 mauling of Mauritius in the game played earlier this month at the Accra Sports Stadium.

The 24-year old’s impressive display had come as surprise to pundits who had criticized Avram Grant for his inclusion  due to his lack of playing time at club level. 

The former AshGold man’s loan move to Celtic from Rubin Kazan has turned out to be a disaster as he has managed only five appearances for the Scottish giants.

But the midfielder's vision and ability to break play silenced critics.

“I am a hardworking player, even if I am not playing I work hard behind everybody. I know what I want to achieve so I work very hard behind the scenes so I wasn’t surprised at all,” he told African Football.

Wakaso cemented his place in the center of midfield for Black Stars at this year's Afcon when he came off the bench to slice a 60-yard assist for Asamoah Gyan to get the winner against Algeria.

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