Milovan Rajevac is tipping his 'comeback kids' to qualify for the African Nations Championships after gaining a slender advantage over Nigeria in the first leg of the final qualifier in Accra.

Nigeria raced into a 2-0 lead before Ghana staged a thrilling comeback to win 3-2 in the first of two games that will determine which of these two sides qualify for the first ever African Nations Championships in Ivory Coast reserved for home based players.

Ghana is desperate to avoid losing out to Nigeria in the qualification for a major tournament after a series of high profile losses against the neighbours in the race for a place at the football tournament of the men and women Olympics and the women's U-20 tournament.

Milovan Rajevac is confident it won't happen with the home-based side. "The team showed great spirit in coming back to win which is a good sign," he said afterwards.

"At a point we looked out but they battled hard in the second half and got what we deserved. Now we will have to go to Nigeria and show the same spirit. We have to play on the strength of the result and I am sure we will go through."

The game at the Ohene Djan Stadium was a high quality affair with the Nigerians taking a 2-0 lead before a Francis Coffie inspired comeback brought Ghana level after which Samuel Inkoom scored the winner.