Konadu eyes Mali scalp in Afcon

Ghana assistant coach Maxwell Konadu believes the Black Stars have regained their confidence after the 1-0 victory over Uganda in the Africa Cup of Nations Group D opener on Tuesday.

West Ham United midfielder Andre Ayew won the game for the West Africans from the spot, after Asamoah Gyan was brought down in the penalty box by Uganda defender Isaac Isinde.

Although the victory has seen the Black Stars topping their group, Konadu admits that their performance was not inspiring especially in the second-half of the game but he insists that they will improve against Mali on Friday.

"We have been able to silence Uganda in the opening game but there are two more matches to complete the work we started to do in the group stages," Konadu told Goal.

"It wasn't the best of performances from the players. We are aware that Ghanaians weren't happy especially during the second half of the game but all that we wanted was the points to give us a perfect start in the competition. Now, one game is down and two more to go but the win has given us confidence ahead of our match against Mali and we will try our maximum best to win it and qualify with one game to spare."

"We know how difficult the Mali game will be but we will do our best to finish it off before it even gets scary in the group," he added.

Egypt and Uganda will lock horns in the other group game also on Friday.