SENEGAL coach Amara Traore is refusing to resign despite the humiliation of three defeats at the African Nations Cup finals including Sunday’s loss to Libya in their final Group A game.

"I will not resign. The only certainty I have is that I want to continue with this team,” Traore told reporters after his side limped out of the tournament.

Senegal were one of the favourites to win the tournament in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon but lost each game 2-1.

Their defeat in Bata on Sunday was a limp affair with their star-studded squad clearly shorn of confidence.

But Traore said there was no time to change the side before the World Cup qualifiers start in June.

He said rather that Senegal needed to continue with the current squad but correct mistakes made at the Nations Cup.

"These players cannot suddenly become zero,” he said.

Traore added that he accepted responsibility for the fiasco.

Former Belgian World Cup great Eric Gerets expressed a similar desire to stay in charge of Morocco after they were eliminated on Friday - the second of the favourites to suffer a shock early elimination.

Agencies