Ghana caretaker trainer Kwasi Appiah says he is under no pressure to prove his coaching qualities despite the disappointing home draw against Sudan last week.
The Black Stars were held at home by the lowly Nile Crocodiles in Kumasi on 10 October which dented their chances of a smooth qualification for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations.
It was the first game in charge of the squad for Appiah who was handed the post in the wake of Milovan Rajevac’s departure.
Even though the Black Stars seriously let down their fans by the performance in Kumasi, Appiah maintains that he is up to the task.
"I'm under no pressure because I have been through bigger challenges before, both as a player and when I worked with Milo (Rajevac), so what happened against Sudan was normal," Appiah said.
'" That was not to suggest, however, that he was satisfied with the goalless result as he revealed that he prepared his team well enough to win the game.
"I can't say I'm not disappointed but sometimes things don't go the way you expect, even after doing everything you are supposed to do," he said.
The former Ghana defender he has what it takes to manage the team until a new substantive coach is found.
"The point is that Milo involved me in everything he did so the rich experience gained from him has put me in a good stead to know how to handle pressure," Appiah added.
Explaining why he started unsung Jordan Ayew and Bernard Yao Kumordzi ahead of tested Samuel Inkoom and Emmanuel Agyemang Badu , against the Sudan, the one-time Black Stars skipper said they were purely based on their performance at training as well as his game plan.
"Every coach selects players based on their performance at training, and Jordan and Kumordzi showed promise throughout our preparation, both in Accra and Kumasi", he noted.
According to him Milo nearly started Jordan who features for French champions Marseille in the opening qualifier against Swaziland in August due to his impressive form, and therefore thought he was a player with the quality to solve the team's problem at the right flank.
In the case of Greece-based Kumordzi, Coach Appiah explained that in a bid to win the game he needed an offensive midfielder to partner Anthony Annan who is a defensive midfielder, and that starting another defensive midfielder like Agyemang Badu alongside Annan would not have served the purpose.
As to why home-based Seth Owusu whom he discovered did not feature in his 18-man squad for the game, he said the Kessben defender was a young player who needed to be introduced into the team gradually, especially where players like Lee Addy, Jonathan Mensah and Samuel Inkoom were all on the bench on the day.