Christine Manie Patiance, captain of the Lioness of Cameroon, has said she is upbeat about their chances of winning their first ever continental trophy, declaring that, “we won’t cry again".

Manie, 34, said this at a pre-match conference ahead of their 2018 African Women Cup of Nations (AWCON) Group A match against Mali on Saturday November, 17 at the Accra Sports Stadium at 18:30 GMT.

A confident looking Manie said, they had learnt their lessons from their last two consecutive finals, which they lost and were ready to make amends in this edition.

She said they cried on all those occasions because women were emotional, but was however positive that the pendulum would switch in their favour this time.

“We are not going to cry again. Though women are emotional, we putting all those emotions aside in order to stay focused and win our games. It is two years now but we will start with Mali and see what happens.

"We have learnt our lessons and this time we are ready to win,” she said.

She said their preparations had been great so far with higher concentration level and were ready to conquer as they take each game at a time.

Cameroon hosted the last edition in 2016 and were beaten in the final by Nigeria having lost in a final two years earlier in Namibia.