Asamoah Gyan believes the opening 2015 Africa Nations Cup group fixtures will be vital to the campaign ahead for the Black Stars.

Ghana host Uganda in their opening Group E qualifier at the Baba Yara Stadium on Saturday before travelling to Togo for Wednesday's second group fixture in their bid to reach the finals in Morocco.

Amid the criticisms following their first round exit at the World Cup in Brazil, Gyan remains very confident that the pressure can prove an incentive for Kwesi Appiah's group.

"We need to make sure we win our fans back by winning the upcoming two games to make everybody happy. It's very important," Gyan said.

"If you see our statistics, we've never lost a qualification game in Ghana which I think is a good record for Ghanaians and this is what we are expecting in Saturday's game.

"We are not going to just win but to put up a performance to make sure everybody is happy."

The World Cup experience has taken away some shine off them but for the captain and the rest of the group, their commitment and focus to will not waver as they begin a fresh campaign.

"It's about us to redeem our image again in Ghana which we do know. We have to just psyche our ourselves up and approach the game with a positive mentality. It's not going to be easy playing against Uganda," the captain added.