Ghana captain Andre Ayew believes Jordan Ayew’s struggle in front of goal is not a result of a loss of confidence as widely stated.

The Crystal Palace forward is enduring a difficult time putting the ball in the back of the net for both club and country.

On Sunday, he missed a glorious chance to put Ghana 1-0 up when he went one-on-one with the goalkeeper in a 2022 World Cup qualifier against South Africa, adding to what is now a long list of goal failures in recent times.

“It is a matter of getting the ball in the back of the net and it is difficult for him to score at this moment,” Andre, whose solitary penalty earned Ghana a 1-0 win on Sunday, said, as reported by Citi Sports.

“He knows it, we all know it but we also know he can score a lot of goals so he has to keep working and you can see from his actions that he has not lost confidence but in front of goal he has missed a few.

“We need him to find the back of the net and if we are to go far, we will need him to start scoring.”

After the game, former Ghana striker Prince Tagoe, who featured alongside Andre at the 2010 World Cup, attributed Jordan’s big miss to a dip in confidence and called for support for the 30-year-old.

He said on Angel TV: “On a normal day, Jordan Ayew would’ve buried that chance, but I think he has completely lost his confidence. It’s clear that the criticisms have affected him, but we need to support him to rediscover. He works hard in every game.”

In September, Palace manager Patrick Vieira similarly attributed a poor miss to a loss of confidence after Ayew spurned a great opportunity to score a possible match-winner in a 1-1 draw with Brighton & Hove Albion in the Premier League.

So far the striker is yet to score for The Eagles this season, adding to a disappointing turnout last season where he ended the campaign with only one goal to his name.