Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien will miss the African Nations Cup after being left out of Ghana's squad.

The 23-year-old midfielder has been recovering from an ankle ligament injury sustained in a challenge by West Ham's Nigel Reo-Coker at the start of January.

Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho initially claimed the injury would sideline the former Lyon star for the whole of January, although he is making a quicker than expected recovery.

However, Ghana's hopes of fielding Essien have been dashed and he is set to miss the tournament in Egypt after not being included in their 23-man squad for the finals.

Ghana, already fined for missing Tuesday's first deadline for submitting their squad, had to present their line-up by today or faced having it reduced to 20 as punishment.