Head Coach of the Black Starlets Paa Kwasi Fabin says he is pleased with his side’s preparations towards the African Under 17 Championship in Gabon.

Fabin’s provisional 25 man squad will leave Accra for Gabon on May 5 to finalize preparations, before being cut down to a final list of 21.

Ghana is in Group A along with hosts Gabon, Cameroon and Guinea, while Group B consists of Mali, Tanzania, Angola and Niger.

The four semifinalists in the tournament will book automatic qualification to the U17 World Cup in India, and Fabin says he is happy with how the team is gearing up for the tournament which starts on May 14.

“I think we have had adequate preparations. For the first time we have had three international friendlies to play and that has really helped us to see the strengths and weaknesses of the team,” he said.

“We had wanted to go to Nigeria but we did not get that opportunity, so we will head straight to Gabon to continue our preparations towards the tournament,” he added.

The Starlets are the joint most successful team in the history of the tournament with two wins, although their last triumph came 18 years ago in Guinea.