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Ghana U20 coach Orlando Wellington has urged his players to prove they can deliver under pressure when they meet Gambia in a make-or-break showdown at the Africa Youth Championship on Thursday.
The World Cup champions suffered a jolt on Monday when they were defeated 2-1 by arch rival Nigeria in their opening Group B match.
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Ghana must beat Gambia to keep alive their hopes of reaching the prestigious World Cup in Colombia in July.
And having dominated the continent and the world over the past two years, the Black Satellites coach Wellington told Kickoffghana they cannot afford to let the opportunity slip through their fingers.
 "The players are aware this is a do or die affair. We either win or forget about playing in the world cup which will be a big blow for Ghana and they are ready for that challenge," Wellnigton said.
The Black Satellites fluffed several scoring chances in their opening game and Wellington says the players must convert the chances they get.
"There will be little for error so we have to cut out mistakes. Our place in the world cup hinges on a good result here, so does our ambitions of winning the trophy,†Wellnigton said.
“But we have to tackle first things first and the most important thing now is to focus the minds of the players and the team on getting the required three points to stay in the competition for a place in the semi-final."
The Ghana coach is aware that the game will not be a stroll in the park as Gambia also lost their opening game against Cameroon on Monday.
This means the Young Scorpions must also come out to fight otherwise they will be eliminated if they lose.
"Like us Gambia must win and they are a very good side with an ability to play some good football. We have played them several times so we know how to approach this,†Wellington said.
The kick off time of the Ghana-Gambia game is 1300GMT .