THE head coach of the Black Queens, P.S.K. Paha, has expressed optimism that the team will be in shape before the final African Women's Championship eliminator against Guinea Bissau on September 20 in spite of the insufficient time at his disposal.

He intimated that he is now working on the conditioning of the team and other basics like ball work and techniques and hopes to make a headway with time. In an interview at the National Sports College at Winneba last Wednesday, he disclosed that most of the 30 players currently in camp lack the basics of the game due to lack of competition in women soccer.

He said of the lot, only six belong to the old stock of players who featured in the last African Women's Championship in South Africa.

He revealed that the players are responding well to training with less than two weeks of camping.

Paha who is being assisted by Michael Akpe, however, conceded that a lot more will need to be done before the third edition of the continental championship scheduled for Nigeria in November.

He noted that the current training regime is an ongoing one and will see the best set of players representing the nation on the international circuit. According to coach Paha, his ultimate aim is to qualify for the next World Cup in China next year.

He hinted that the Queens will plunge into the next phase of engaging in training matches from the first week of August.