LIKUENA coach Thabo Senong says he is shifting his attention to refreshing Likuena following a disappointing 2021 Africa Cup of Nations campaign, in which Lesotho finished at the bottom of Group L with three points from five matches.

Senong’s side finished the campaign without a victory, registering three draws and three defeats including Tuesday 3-0 loss to Nigeria in Lagos.

Likuena were also earlier eliminated from the World Cup qualifiers on an away goal rule by Ethiopia.

However, Senong is optimistic that the team has made good progress under his mentorship having handed four players their debuts against Benin last Saturday and two against Nigeria on Tuesday.

“I’m obviously disappointed with the results but encouraged with the performance of the players. It was always going to be tough against Nigeria,” the Likuena coach told the media.

“Their individual quality was effective on the day. We did everything to play in a structure to function as a unit defensively and offensively. We missed a few key players and you could see obviously that lack of match fitness was a factor throughout the qualifiers.”

Senong believes there are a lot of positives to take forward and is adamant Likuena will rise to the occasion heading into their next assignments such as the COSAFA Cup that will be staged in South Africa between June and July.