Ghana head coach Kwesi Appiah says his side did not give what he expected in a 1-0 defeat to Kenya on Saturday.

The West African side came into the Afcon qualifying match as favorites but at the end went home bleeding after the final whistle. The tactician says it was a lesson for his players, who he believes have what it takes to help the nation progress to the continental show piece by the end of the campaign.

“We did not underrate Kenya at all, we just paid for our mistakes. There were chances we created especially in the first half and we did not take them. This was not what I expected from my players, they did not play in a level they should. Kenya had I think one chance and they utilized on it.

On whether the Black Stars have a chance to qualify for the finals set for Cameroon, Appiah told Goal, “Well, I still believe that we have a chance of making it to the finals for sure, we just have to bounce back from this lose and focus on the upcoming matches.”

All the teams, Kenya, Ghana, Sierra Leone and Ethiopia, have three points in Group F after two matches.

The top two countries in 12 groups will qualify for Afcon finals, which will be the first since the tournament was expanded from 16 to 24 teams.