Kenya Police assistant coach Anthony "Modo" Kimani has voiced hope that his charges will crack a spot in the next stage of the CAF Confederation Cup.
Kimani made the remarks following Sunday's barren draw against Ethiopian Coffee Sports Club in the first preliminary round at Nyayo Stadium.
"Our campaign got off to a decent start and the players showed great resolve. We knew it would not be an easy encounter," Kimani said.
"Our opponents have played at this level before and they took advantage of their experience. Thankfully, our team has a roster of players with continental football experience. Their presence inspired the group," he added.
Police will have to punch above their weight in the crunch return leg encounter in Addis Ababa where the overall winner will square off with Zamalek of Egypt.
"We plan to resume training immediately to strengthen the weak areas before we play again in the rematch next week," Kimani said.
Ethiopian Coffee's head coach, Habetweld Negash, expressed satisfaction with Sunday's outcome. His visibly elated players broke into song and dance once centre referee, Masangune Mwamba, blew the full-time whistle.
"I can't complain much about our performance in this match. We played well considering we were away from home," he said.
"At the very least, we wanted to contain our opponents in their backyard and return home with a point."
A series of deft passes and spectacular moments of thrilling football won over the passionate home fans, who flocked to the stadium to cheer the law enforcers on.
Awkwardness and a lack of poise in front of the goal thwarted the Kenyan side's opportunity to take an early lead.
The Police had to step up their defence to repel attacks as the Ethiopian side trampled over their territory during the end-to-end combat.
