Defending champions Nigeria have qualified for the U23 AFCON Cup of Nations holding in Egypt in November 2019 but the task was made difficult because of their poor away record that saw them lose to Libya and Sudan.

Dream Team VII coach Imama Amapakabo has explained that the late arrival of the foreign-based players for the away trips played a part in the two losses.

Having lost 1-0 in the first leg in Omdurman, a 2-0 victory would have seen the Nigeria U23s qualify for the AFCON but they went for five goals, one more than they scored against Libya in March.

''Football is all about moments and if you lose concentration like we did in our game in Sudan, we are going to get punished,'' Amapakabo told reporters post-match.

''All the time we come back home we are a better team because I have the opportunity to actually work with the full team.

''Going away most times you find out that I don't have the full complement of my team to work with and I get to meet my team on the day of the game and we just have to play so it is a different ball game when we come back home.

''We have some training sessions so it's always a plus for us.''

The Dream Team have to start preparations for the U23 AFCON and Amapakabo has insisted that he's not scared of facing any team ahead of the draw.

''There is a big qualification in front of us so we await the qualification. Let's get to Egypt and let' see how God is going to bless us.

''As a coach like I say all the time if you want to be the best you should be ready to meet with the best so whichever draw that we have, we have to qualify for the Olympics,'' he concluded.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel