Team manager of Hearts of Oak Sabahn Quaye, says his sides lackluster showing against Malian side Djoliba is as a result of fatigue which accumulated from playing three games within the space of a week.
The Phobians qualified to the final stage of the preliminary qualification stages of the competition thanks to a 2-1 lead they copped up in the away game in Mali.
A 1-0 defeat in the reverse at home was damaging but was too little too late for the Djoliba who exited the competition despite a gallant display in the second leg.
Quizzed on the performance, Sabahn Quaye said it was solely down to accumulation of fatigue.
“The boys were very tired from all the games they had played in this week but we managed to motivate them to play,†Sabahn told GHANAsoccernet.com
“Sometimes we have to accept there is a limit everybody can go and the genuine reason is that they were very exhausted.
“The most important thing is that we qualified and that is it.
“We will look to return to winning ways in our next game.â€
Hearts will now make the money zone of the completion if they are able to scale pass this final stage of the qualification series.