Ghana face major injury concerns ahead of their clash against Australia in Rustenburg, but coach Milovan Rajevac remains confident his side can claim the victory that would put them in command of Group D.

The Black Stars will be without defender Isaac Vorsah, while his first-choice centre-back partner John Mensah is also struggling.

It means that Rajevac may have to field a completely different pairing in central defence, an area that was so key in helping them keep a clean sheet against Serbia in their opening World Cup game - a match they won 1-0.

But Rajevac is optimistic his team can cope with the Socceroos, who must win or face the possibility of an early exit.

He said: "Vorsah has not been training over the past seven days, we will see, but I don't think he will be able to play.

"We will see how the situation is with Mensah, but we have other players who can replace them you know. We have enough players to come in and replace them."

The west Africans will head into the game as favourites following that opening win against Rajevac's fellow countrymen, a victory that is the only one by a nation from the home continent so far in the tournament.

But the Ghanaian boss says he has been warning his players all week about complacency.

He continued: "Over the past few days we have been preparing for that. We didn't want players to be overly confident.

"They have to be well concentrated. You know everything happens on the pitch. By making statements we will not win, it's only by the way we perform on the pitch.

"Also, you have seen how the results have gone in this World Cup, so there are no favourites.

"It's all about playing well and getting the result - that's the most important thing."

Germany's 1-0 defeat to Serbia on Friday has thrown the group wide open and Rajevac knows that only victory will do for his team.

He said: "The game between Germany and Serbia shows that at the World Cup there is no easy game and the situation becomes more complicated for all of us in this group.

"We did win against Serbia, but it's now that the real job awaits us. We have two more games to play and Serbia now has the opportunity to get to the round of 16."

Pim Verbeek insists he has had more difficult weeks with Australia during his two-and-a-half years in charge and is confident of a strong reaction from his players when they come up against Ghana.

The Socceroos were thrashed 4-0 by Germany on Sunday in a dismal opening to their campaign and now face a must-win encounter in Rustenburg.

They currently sit bottom of Group D, but defeat by the Germans against Serbia earlier today has thrown the race for the top two places wide open.

"We have had several training sessions this week and the players reacted very well to the loss against Germany," the coach said. "We all know the situation now.

"The only thing we can do is win against Ghana tomorrow. I expect a good reaction from the players and have confidence they will do everything to get the three points."

The Dutchman claims there were occasions during the road to South Africa that more than matched the difficulty of the past six days.

He also revealed they have not done anything differently to counter what happened in Durban, with their preparations following the usual course.

Verbeek continued: "I think we had more difficult weeks during our World Cup qualification, to be honest.

"After we lost against Germany, we knew what we had to do and that's winning against Ghana."

Tim Cahill, who is suspended for the game after his red card against Germany, misses out, along with Vince Grella (knee), but Harry Kewell is fully fit for the first time and will be gunning for a place.

Verbeek said: "It's clear that a player with the quality of Tim will be missed.

"He is a very important player for us, but when you go to the World Cup you take 23 players. So the other players will have to do what he always does - score goals."

Another talking point in the Australian media this week has been suggestions of infighting between the coach and some of his players.

However, he denied this, adding: "I love Australian media, I think they're fantastic.

"They should write what they like about us. It's a free world, I have no problems with that. I have no problems with my players, so I don't care."

end