Cote d'Ivoire coach Herve Renard has told his side's critics to trust his methods in the wake of the 1-1 draw with Mali in their Group D clash at the African Nations Cup on Equatorial Guinea on Saturday.

For the second game running the Elephants were forced to come from behind to secure a point, and Renard says while many of his players are new to the set-up and still learning about what it takes to be successful in this competition, he already knows.

"For those who are not satisfied, I would like to state that it was my 11th consecutive Afcon match without a defeat. So I know what I am doing," Frenchman Renard, who led Zambia to a shock win in the 2012 championship, told reporters.

"Four of the players on the pitch today are competing at their first Afcon. It is obviously harder for them. In football, we need to build. Things don't happen in one shot.

"In Zambia, with whom I won, I stayed for five years and I am only with the Elephants for five months. We need time to put things in place."

That may sound like Renard has played down his side's chances in this tournament, but he will know as well as any that with the quality he has in the squad, the knockout stages are a must.

As for Saturday's encounter, where Bakary Sako first put the Maliens ahead and Max Gradel equalised in the second half, Renard says there were positives to take out of the game.

"We saw some good things in comparison with our first game against Guinea. Unfortunately, we were very quickly behind. It shows that we struggled to get going in this match.

"However, the overall statistics are in our favour, we shot on goal more than Mali," said Renard.

The coach also had praise for his star, Yaya Toure, who has yet to really fire in this tournament.

"Yaya Touré did his job well. He controlled the play, he was collected. For me, he had a very good game."

Mali coach Henryk Kasperczak was left disappointed that his side had given up a lead, but says they will not change tactics for their final game against Guinea on Wednesday.

"I think the best solution for us is to keep doing what we have been doing, play the same way but avoid making the same mistake," Kasperczak said.

With four 1-1 draws in Group D so far, things could not be tighter going into the final round of games, which are now a straight 'winner-takes-all' shoot-out for the quarter-finals.