Rwanda CHAN team captain Eric ‘Bakame’ Ndayishimiye has admitted that the upcoming CECAFA Senior Challenge Cup tournament will give them a clear picture of where they stand ahead of CHAN 2018 finals in Morocco.

Amavubi are in Pool A, which also has Tanzania and Zanzibar, as well as guest side Libya, who will also be using the regional tournament as part of preparations for CHAN.

"The CECAFA Challenge Cup will give us a real picture of how we will perform in CHAN. We want to go into CECAFA looking to win all our games, which would be a big morale booster,” Ndayishimiye told Times Sport.

Bakame added; "We are in the same group as Libya in CECAFA and at CHAN finals, so it will help us to know how they play.”

Rwanda and hosts Kenya will face off in the opening match of this year’s CECAFA Senior Challenge Cup which will be staged from December 3 to 17.

We know we have to deliver during CECAFA, which will help us to build a strong team and morale for CHAN,” he noted.

Head coach Antoine Hey has said that he will only use local players in the CECAFA Senior Challenge Cup.

At CHAN 2018 finals, Rwanda will play against Libya, Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea in Group C at the biennial championship reserved for players featuring in their respective domestic leagues that will take place from January 13 – February 4 in Morocco. The matches of Group C will be played in Tangier.

Hosts Morocco, Guinea, Sudan and Mauritania are in Group A. The Atlas Lions will take on Mauritania in the opening match of the competition at the Mohamed V Stadium in Casablanca on Jan. 13.

Ivory Coast, who hosts of the inaugural edition of the competition in 2009, head Group B that also includes Zambia, Uganda and Namibia. Group D has 2011 runners-up Angola, Cameroon, Congo and Burkina Faso.

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