By Akyereko Frimpong Manson
Hearts of Oak under-siege goalkeeper Tetteh Luggard did not travel with the team for their Saturday Ghana Premier League tie with Bechem United, GHANAsoccernet.com can confirm.Â
The 23-year-old was dropped by David Duncan following mounting pressure and attacks from fans for his poor showing in the early season.
Luggard has been blamed for three of the four goals conceded by Hearts so far in the league and Wednesday's 2-1 win over Sekondi Hasaacas brought a nightmarish day for the young goalkeeper.
During half-time he was replaced by Philemon McCarthy after conceding a rather innocuous goal from Samuel Afful in the first-half.
A third-choice keeper has been picked to join Philemon McCarthy who drew praises from the technical team and the fans after displaying a world-class performance in his first 45 minutes since last season.
Luggard failed to show up at training on Thursday after the game for obviously psychological reasons with Managing Director Neil Armstrong taking to the social media website facebook to advise the fans to support the keeper in difficult times.
Hearts are chasing for their third straight win after recovering from the defeat against Kotoko to record wins over Inter Allies and Hasaacas.
But Bechem will not come easy for them as they have failed to record wins over the league minnows in a top-flight game.
Midfielder Emmanuel Hayford who is likened to Barcelona's Iniesta is out of the game with an aggravated injury while the Ivorian defender Reuben Gnagne also has a dislocated shoulder.