The Gambia squad departed on Monday for final preparations this week in Accra for their African Nations Cup qualifier against Benin before proceeding onto Cotonou for Sunday’s Group D game.

The Gambians have named a strong 24-man squad for the opening weekend of the 2019 preliminaries with a team that includes Modou Barrow of English Premier League club Swansea City and Mustapha Carayol from Championship outfit Nottingham Forest.

Also in the squad, named last week by coach Sang John Ndong, is the Barcelona-based teenager Alasana Manneh. He played in the under-19 side in the Uefa Youth League this year.

Gambia are bidding to qualify for the Nations Cup finals for the first time.

SQUAD

Goalkeepers: Baboucarr Gaye (Arminia Bielefeld, Germany), Modou Jobe (ASC Linguère, Senegal), Alagie Nyabally (Real Banjul)

Defenders: Pa John Bass (Brikama United), Omar Colley (Racing Genk, Belgium), Mamadou Danso (Kelantan, Malaysia), Modou Jagne (FC Sion, Switzerland), Mass Manga (Hawks FC), Dawda Ngum (Rosengård, Sweden), Simon Richter (Roskilde, Denmark), Bubacarr Sanneh (AC Horsens, Denmark),

Midfielders: Modou Barrow (Swansea City, England), Hamza Barry (Hadjuk Split, Croatia), Mustapha Carayol (Nottingham Forest, England), Bully Drammeh (Real Banjul), Tijan Jaiteh (Bnei Yehuda, Israel), Alasana Manneh (Barcelona, Spain), Sulayman Marreh (Granada, Spain), Gregory Sambou (Ports Authority), Sainey sambou (Brikama United)

Forwards: Lamin Jallow (Trapani, Italy), Yusupha Njie (FUS Rabat, Morocco), Ali Sowe (Vibonese, Italy), Bubacarr Steve Trawally (Yanbian FC, China).