Asante Kotoko coach CK Akunnor admits his side had to dig deep to post a 2-1 win over plucky Zesco United in their CAF Confederation Cup Group C clash at home on Wednesday.
The Porcupine Warriors needed two first half goals from Kwame Bonsu and Emmanuel Gyamfi to bag the first win of the campaign.
But the home team were on tenterhooks for the last 15 minutes of the game when the Zambian champions came into the game strongly.
Ghanaian striker Rahim Osmanu climbed off the bench to pull one back and was denied the equalizer by some brave goalkeeping from Felix Annan in the 88th minute.
Akunnor is happy is side were able to snuff out Zesco and hold onto the points.
''We were aware of the strength of the opponent. They are very very dangerous and therefore it’s important that we don’t give them breathing space,'' the former Black Stars captain said.
''Form the early minute of the game we tried our best to be compact- not to allow them to attack.
''However, they managed in so many ways to attack us which was very very dangerous but we managed it very well.
''We were waiting for our opportunities to score and we within the very few minute we got our goal. We had to soak and attack. At the end of the day we had the win and we are very happy.''