“Every Hearts player knows what it takes to face Kotoko” – Didi Dramani

Photo Credit: Accra Hearts of Oak

Head coach of Hearts of Oak Mas Ud Didi Dramani has charged his playing body to tackle the 2025 President’s Cup against rivals Asante Kotoko with the utmost seriousness.

The Phobians will slug it out with the Porcupine Warriors on Sunday, July 6 at the Accra Sports Stadium in the annual game that is geared towards honouring the sitting head of state of Ghana, H E John Dramani Mahama.

Dramani, who replaced Ivorian trainer Aboubakar Ouattara, will look to win his first competitive assignment against the club he once coached to two Ghana Premier League titles.

The 59-year-old said: “Every player in Ghana knows what it takes to play against arch rivals especially Kotoko playing against Hearts of Oak.

“You don’t need to speak anything about it. I have not spoken to the players about the name of the team but I have just been preparing them with regards to our expectations on the day so every player knows the relevance and the importance of these games,” Didi Dramani told Hearts TV.

The former Ghana Black Stars assistant coach says he has watered down any form of pressure in camp to ensure his players understand the future plans of the club.

“So you need not to be told to add up to any pressure, I just tell them how we are developing our strategy, team culture and team model. So we are using this moment to get the right energy and hopefully a good performance comes up.

“We try to do everything little by little because we are not in the right phase of time in association football. This period they should have been recuperating to get ready to come back for pre-season.

“But here you are preparing a team to play a high profile game and you know how it is. We will try as much as possible to manage the loads and even in the game.”

Hearts of Oak went last season without a silverware, having finished in fourth on 58 points, same as rivals Asante Kotoko. The record Ghana FA Cup holders will switch attention to the Eko International Cup in Nigeria after the President’s Cup.