“There were some mistakes on the defensive side, including bad positioning and lack of coordination with the goalkeeper in counter attacks,” Shehata told Filgoal.com on Sunday.

“All these mistakes will be dealt with before Friday’s match against Libya,” Shehata said.

“Egyptian players, especially defenders, face problems when facing African teams who are known for their pace.

“They also lack concentration in one-on-one situations, but we’ll hopefully overcome this problem in the upcoming days,” he added.

Shehata, however, diminished the significance of Egypt’s defeat ahead of the tournament that starts on January 20th.

“I’m not really concerned with the result. The goal from friendly matches is to prepare players and try different strategies that will benefit the team in official matches,” said Shehata.

The Egypt boss said he finds himself forced to use a 4-5-1 tactic in his African campaign due to the slow pace of the players.

“We had to try several tactics to see what suits us best because fielding only one striker could really hurt us,” he explained.

On the other hand, goalkeeping coach Ahmed Soliman explained the reason behind fielding Zamalek guardian Abdul-Wahed Al-Sayed against South Africa.

“We had to make sure Abdul-Wahed was completely fit and ready to fill in for first choice keeper Essam Al-Hadari if needed,” said Soliman.

“We had to give Abdul-Wahed a chance to create a competitive atmosphere because it would be risky going into a strong tournament with only one keeper ready,” he added.

Egypt face Libya in the ACN opening game on Friday.