Black Stars head coach Otto Addo says Ghana is favourites on matchday in the ongoing 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifier against Niger.

The West African country's senior national team lost their opening game last week Thursday at the Baba Yara Stadium, a defeat he said affected both him and his team.

The Black Stars are now preparing for their second match against Niger, scheduled for Monday, September 9, 2024.

Speaking about the mood after the Angola game, Addo admitted that the loss took a mental toll on the team and himself.

"Everybody was down," he said in his pre-match interview.

"I think the first part was surely mental. I was down myself after the match, but the next day, I had a lot of positive feedback from friends and family, also from some press people. The press conference after the game showed me that we didn’t play badly. It was a really unlucky game."

Despite the disappointment, the former Borussia Dortmund assistant manager said the positive feedback gave him confidence, and he worked to pass that onto his players in the days leading up to the next match.

“This positive sign gave me confidence, and this is the confidence I was trying to give to the team in the last days, and I think it worked quite well,” he explained.

“The guys looked good at the training, and surely there were some things, defensive-wise but also offensive-wise, which we had to work on. We tried to implement it in our training as far as we could.”

The team had two training session in Morocco ahead of the crucial encounter against Niger, and he expressed optimism about Ghana’s chances.

“This game, we are surely the favourites, and I am very, very confident that we will win this game,” he stated.

“But in football, anything can happen. We saw it last time against Angola, the way the game looked, I never thought we would lose this game, but now there is no weak opponent.”

He emphasised the need for focus and discipline ahead of Monday’s match, stating that the boys must concentrate on their tasks to ensure victory.

“We have to be focused, we have to be concentrated, we have to do our job. Then the probability that we win is very, very high,” Addo concluded.

Ghana will face Niger at the Stade Municipal Berkane, hoping to bounce back and secure their first win of the qualifiers.