Yeni Malatyaspor midfielder Afriyie Acquah has rejected claims that Black Stars were beaten by Sudan because they underestimated the North Africans.

Black Stars were condemned to their first defeat in the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers by Sudan in Omdurman on Tuesday.

It was a shocking result, considering Black Stars had claimed a 2-0 win in Cape Coast against the same opponents five days ago.

Acquah, who featured in both games, said: "As we all know, in the first leg we manage a 2-0 victory. So we were determined to go into the reverse fixture and win but unfortunately, it couldn’t materialize. We lost last minute but we still have a chance to qualify, we have two other games to play which I think we can win.

“Anyone who watched the first game can testify that the Sudanese have a good team, now football has changed, everyone knows how to play so you cannot underrate any team.

“We never underrated them, it was a game and in every game, anything can happen. The defeat does not mean we underestimated them, it just happened. We will correct our mistakes and move on” he concluded.

The result in Sudan means Black Stars failed to secure an early qualification to the tournament in Cameroon 2022.