LONDON, SEP 3 (AP/UNB) - Ghana coach Milovan Rajevac says Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien is putting his international career on hold to regain the form he enjoyed before sustaining the injuries that ruled him out of the World Cup.

Essien injured a hamstring while playing for Chelsea last December and ruptured a cruciate ligament the following month while on Ghana duty at the African Cup of Nations.

Rajevac was quoted as telling the BBC in Johannesburg that the 27-year-old Essien "wants to concentrate on his club and I am sure after some time he will come back to the national team. "

Rajevac says that "I want to help him to get into his old form, to start playing regularly and I gave that permission. "