The head coach of Uganda’s Crested Cranes, George William Lutalo has said they should not be written off at the Total Energies CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) because they will be very competitive.

Lutalo made it clear that although the draw conducted last week was fair, they will have to treat every match like a final.

Uganda was placed in Group A alongside hosts Morocco, Burkina Faso and Senegal.

“We have to represent our country well. The draw was made and the teams we shall face are good teams. But we shall be ready to face them,” added Lutalo.

Uganda Crested Cranes qualified for the competition after their opponents in the last hurdle of the qualifiers Kenya withdrew from the competition.

But Lutalo says not playing the two matches in the last round of the qualifiers did not really affect them because his team has played several build-up matches as well.

“We shall have other tournaments like the CECAFA Women’s senior Championship which will help us improve the team and gain good momentum ahead of the competition in Morocco,” adds the Uganda Crested Cranes coach.

The team captain Ruth Aturo says being placed with the hosts is a little tricky. “As Ugandans we shall be determined to perform our best,” added Aturo.