Assistant coach of the Black Starlets, Nana Kweku Agyemang, has blamed 'preparatory mistakes' for his side's inability to beat Nigeria on Tuesday afternoon.

Ghana fell short in their attempt to claim the bronze medal at the 2024 WAFU B U-17 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers as they lost to the Golden Eaglets.

Nigeria scored a late winner to condemn their Ghanaian counterparts to a 3-2 defeat at the University of Ghana Stadium in a game filled with defensive blunders.

Speaking after the game, Kweku Agyemang said: "Throughout the tournament, we had weaknesses with the centre-backs; both centre-backs we had difficulties."

"If you take the second goal, for example, we've taught them to protect the middle of the penalty area which includes the other fullback. In this case, you saw both centre-backs moving out of those areas to try and protect the areas that the midfielders were supposed to.

"So preparatory mistakes cost us in terms of the way we defended against Nigeria."

The defeat means any hopes of the Black Starlets making the 2025 U-17 AFCON are dashed with the Confederation of African Football (CAF) insisting on a 12-team tournament.