Jaouad Zairi has been dropped from the Morocco preliminary squad

Skilful midfielder Jaouad Zairi has been dropped, the 25-year-old, who plays in Greece for Asteras Tripolis, has played for the Atlas Lions at the last two Nations Cup finals.

Also missing from the list are the Espanyol player Mohammed Al Yaacoubi Moha and the FAR Rabat goalkeeper Tarik Al Jarmouni.

Anderlecht striker Mbark Boussoufa is also left, he is currently injured and only due to resume playing for his club after the Belgian league's winter break on 19 January.

Michel has however included the uncapped France-born Adil Rami, who has expressed interest to play for Morocco.

The leading scorer in the Moroccan so far this season, MA Tetouan's Abderrazak El Mnassfi also gets his first call up along with other home-based players Adil Razzaki, Ahmed Elouali Alami and Hicham Al Amrani.

Morocco are due to play friendlies against Zambia in Fes on 12 January and Angola four days later in Rabat.

The Atlas Lions are in Group A for the Nations Cup in Ghana and open their campaign against Namibia on 21 January before games against Guinea and Ghana.

Squad:

Goalkeepers: Abdelilah Bagui (MAS Fes), Nadir Lamyaghri (Wydad Casablanca), Khalid Fouhami (Raja Casablanca), Adil Razzaki (KAC Kenitra)

Defenders: Michael Bassir (Nancy, France), Abdessamad Chahiri (Difaa El Jadida), Abdeslem Ouaddou (Valenciennes, France), Amin el Erbate (Dafra, UAE), Jamal Alioui (Sion, Switzerland), Adil Rami (Lille, France), Talal El Karkouri (Al Qatari, Qatar), Hicham El Amrani (Raja Casablanca), Badr El Kadouri (Dynamo Kiev, Ukraine), Hicham Mahdoufi (Metallist,Ukraine), Ahmed Elouali Alami (KAC Kenitra)

Midfielders: Youssef Safri (Southampton, England), Houcine Kharja (Piacenza, Italy), Abdelkrim Kissi (Enosis Paralimini, Cyprus), Abderrahmane Kabous (CSKA Sofia, Bulgaria), Othman El Assas (Gharra, Qatar), Nouredin Boukhari (Sparta Rotterdam, Holland)