The absence of injured star midfielder Michael Essien is weighing heavily on Ghana as they head into their second World Cup, but the Black Stars are confident that one of their young squad can fill his shoes.

Essien's scratching comes as some relief for Australia who face Ghana in their second match.

The absence of Essien, one of Africa's true superstars who features prominently in TV commercials for the tournament, is a blow for the entire continent after he failed to recover from a knee ligament injury he suffered in December.

One of the players left to fill the gap, Stephen Appiah, revealed that although the Chelsea midfielder is not at the training camp in Pretoria, he has been staying in close touch with his teammates.

"He is not going to let us down, we are with him on the phone every day," Appiah said, adding that the encouragement goes both ways.

"He is on rehab, we try to give positive vibes. I think he will come to watch some matches," said the 29-year-old Bologna midfielder.

John Mensah, the Sunderland defender and another rare veteran in an exceptionally young squad, admitted the loss of Essien was "a big blow for the nation and for the team, we need him in the team, we are sad, we all play for him.

"He can give a good pass, he gives a lot to the team, he work a lot."

Mensah though is confident that even without their star man, the Ghanaians can improve on four years ago in Germany when they reached the last 16 in their first ever appearance at the finals before Brazil halted their run.

"With our commitment and our team spirit, we will go further than in 2006," he predicted.

The four-time African champions believe they can even reach the quarter-finals, even though if they finish second in a tough-looking Group D which also contains Germany, Australia and Serbia they face the likely prospect of facing England.

The optimism running through the squad - despite a poor run-up to the tournament which included a 4-1 thrashing by Holland - is inspired by their upbeat Serbian coach Milovan Rajevac.

Virtually unknown when he took over two years ago, Rajevac has given a new 'golden generation' of players their chance, turning to the squad which won the Under-20 world title in 2009 - Dominic Adiyah, Kwadwo Asamoah and France-based Andre Ayew, the son of former Ghanaian superstar Abedi Pele, are the new names to watch.

"We cannot do anything to change" Essien's absence, he said.

"We have other guys, we believe in their abilities."

Appiah added: "Michael is not there, but someone will take his place."

He pointed out that the youngsters grabbed their chance at the Africa Cup of Nations in January, beating the experienced Nigeria in the semi-finals before losing by a single goal to Egypt in the final.

"Some of us were not in Angola, but the young ones managed to get to the final. The guys are hungry and want to prove their point."

Rajevac has perhaps taken away some of Ghana's attacking edge, but in its place he has installed more defensive rigour.

Kevin-Prince Boateng, Portsmouth's German-born defensive midfielder who has chosen to represent his father's country, has the sort of physical style which suits the coach's game plan perfectly.

Just ask Michael Ballack, whose World Cup was ended before it even started by a crunching Boateng tackle in the FA Cup Final.

Appiah is confident the new style will bring results.

"Jose Mourinho's Inter Milan may not have been very spectacular, but what everyone remembers at the end of the day is that they won the Champions League."

Ghana kick off their campaign against Serbia on Sunday.

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