Coach Avram Grant has come to the defence of Jordan Ayew following criticisms over the striker's performances in the AFCON so far.

Ayew's performance in Ghana's opening matches in Equatorial Guinea has come under public scrutiny.

But the Black Stars head Coach says his young striker and other players should rather be encouraged and not judged based on their mistakes in games.

"You can't stop people from talking.People spoke about Kwesi Appiah even before he started training and John Boye but now he is doing well so it's normal for people to speak about the players", Grant told Ghanafa.org.

"People can speak about the mistakes they make but they need to respect the players and not to hang the players for their mistakes.Because these players giving everything to the national team."

"Jordan Ayew is a very good player and am sure he will give alot to the national team in the future",he added.

Ghana will take on Equatorial Guinea in their semi-finals match at the Estadio de Malabo on Thursday.