Ghana coach Maxwell Konadu believes his outfit will have to do more than they did in 2017 to win this year's Wafu Cup of Nations in Senegal.

The home-based Black Stars are on a mission to retain the title claimed on home soil, having reached the last four of this year's championship.

They beat Burkina Faso 5-4 on penalties in the quarter-final to set up a semi-final date with Cote d'Ivoire on Wednesday.

"It will be difficult [to lift the trophy in Senegal] even though we won the title two years ago," Konadu said as reported by Footyghana.

"This one [tournament] is more difficult.

“Football in Africa is growing year after year.

"Our first match we won 1-0, [and the ] second match 1-1. It tells you how difficult it is.”

Ghana's first match - a play-off tie - ended in a 1-0 triumph over Zambia.

The quarter-final finished with a 1-1 scoreline after normal time, consequently moving on to a penalty shootout.

The Wafu Cup is contested by representative teams of the West African Football Union (Wafu).