Nations FC defender Dennis Korsah believes the Ghanaian FA Cup champions can recover from their 1-0 defeat to FC Diarra in the first leg of the CAF Confederation Cup preliminary round.

Nations FC suffered a narrow defeat to the Malian side at the Stade Mamadou Konaté on Saturday, September 5, leaving them with a one-goal deficit to overturn in the return leg.

Korsah admitted the result was not what the team had hoped for but said they remain confident of making amends in Ghana.

“It’s a good [feeling]," Korsah told Nations' media team in Mali.

"It’s an opportunity for some of the new guys. It’s kind of okay… and then coming from Ghana all the way here. We are standing in for the nation also as well. The feeling was good, but then, as we all know, the result wasn’t what we expected, but it’s okay. We will just try and make amends back in Ghana.

“We could have done better, probably maybe get a point, but then, football happened. We just have to correct our mistakes, one or two, and try to do much better back home and try and qualify to the next round.”

The defender also expressed his appreciation to the Ghanaian community in Mali, as well as officials from the Ghanaian embassy, for their support during the match.

“We thank them for their support. The Ghanaian community that came around, the people from the embassy, and then the support they gave us was massive. Their time, their support, we appreciate everything and their efforts they gave to us.

“It wasn’t the result we were looking for, though, but we will try and make them happy when we go to Ghana, and we will try and make all the Nations supporters back home proud. We will try and move on to the next stage, and we will see what happens from there.

“So, once again, we just thank them for their support, their reception, everything that they did possibly to help us win the game. But again, football happened. But we just thank them for everything that they did for us. We appreciate it, and then we look forward to more of those in future when we come around here.”

Nations FC will host FC Diarra in the second leg in Ghana on Sunday, September 13.

The Ghanaian side need to win by at least two goals to secure qualification to the second preliminary round without the tie going to a deciding process.