The head coach of The Gambia's Baby Scorpions Yahya Manneh has mentioned his-led team's readiness to secure one of the remaining two spots for African teams in this year's FIFA U-17 World Cup.

Even with Tunisia booting them out of the TotalEnergies U-17 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) on Monday night with a 2-1 defeat, the Baby Scorpions are among the four best third-placed finishers in the group stage. They are now pitted against Uganda for the play-offs this Saturday at the El Abdi Stadium in El Jadida, Morocco.

Coach Manneh said during Monday's post-match press conference that the focus is now against Uganda after accepting the loss in good faith.

"We have to take it in faith and move on, because this result can't take us down. We have another target to work on, that's going to be the World Cup. So we're going to play against Uganda," he said.

The Monday encounter was decided by fine margins and the Gambian tactician said they failed to capitalise on their chances unlike their opponents who made theirs count. When quizzed about his take on the penalty awarded to Tunisia following a lengthy VAR review, Manneh Okayed the decision saying they don't "have anything to go against that". He instead took full responsibility for defeat while noting that the players are kids who need mentoring at this stage of their careers.

"We cannot put these kids under pressure...We only have to show them where they need to improve on.

"Setbacks are bound to happen in life, even in football. But again, the comebacks to me are much greater than any other thing. So we will have to go back to the hotel and be able to create a very conducive environment for them.

"So we will talk to them, consult them as much as we can. Give them hope that there is still another chance to go on. So when they realise that, I think it's going to be a good environment for them, they're going to step up and we're going to play against Uganda," he explained.

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