Super Falcons head coach Thomas Dennerby is upbeat about his team's chances at the forthcoming 2018 Africa Women Cup of Nations in Ghana.

 Nigeria have been housed in Group B of the eight-team AWCON tournament with South Africa, Zambia and Kenya as they seek for an unprecedented ninth African title.

Dennerby sees the draw as 'interesting' but states that it will be a tough outing for his players, though, he is unperturbed about the threats their opponents pose.

And despite his side's lack of match fitness, the Swede is confident Falcons will raise up to the challenge and defend their honours as the reigning continental champions.

“It was an interesting draw with three good teams joining us,” Dennerby told Goal.

“One good thing was that I saw all four of South Africa's games in Cyprus earlier in March. I know a lot really about the team and have a good picture of them.

“For now, I have not seen much about Kenya and Zambia but I will start to use my in-logs to get their games and analyse them because we won’t underrate them.

“We need to go through to the semi-finals. But It will not be nice to put pressure on the players. We have to stay relaxed, focused and hardworking.

“My approach to players is to show them that I am confident and everyone around the team make a good environment for them to perform well. It is football and not about life and death.”

Nigeria will begin their title defense against South Africa on November 18 at the Cape Coast Stadium before their subsequent group matches against Zambia and Kenya.

Hosts Ghana, Algeria, Mali and Cameroon are zoned in Group A of the biennial African women's football competition holding between November 17 to December 1.

The top three teams (champions, runners-up and bronze winners) will earn automatic spots as Africa's flagbearers at the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup in France.

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