Ghana coach Maxwell Konadu believes his side were not at their best despite handing Cote d'Ivoire a 3-1 defeat to make the final of the ongoing Wafu Cup of Nations in Senegal.

A hat-trick by captain Mumuni Shafiu proved crucial as it granted the home-based Black Stars victory in the semi-final fixture at Stade Lat-Dior in Thies on Tuesday.

Ghana are on course to successfully defend their title won two years ago on home soil.

"It wasn't easy getting here. We did all the necessary training that will propel us to win," Konadu told ESPN in the post-match interview.

"Basically, we made sure we instilled the winning mentality into them.

"Even as badly as we played today, it was important that we were able to do the most needed thing, the is [get] the goals.

"I'm happy that at least we scored three goals today; that was our initial problem - people were saying our team was not scoring.

"Today, we managed to put three past Ivory Coast and I have to commend the boys."

The Black Stars will face hosts Senegal or Mali in the final on Sunday.

Konadu's outfit opened the tournament with a 1-0 triumph over Gambia in the play-off round before beating Burkina Faso 5-4 on penalties in the quarter-final to make the last four.