THE coach of the Sierra Leone national team believes Amadou Bakayoko’s international career will have been given a boost by his first goal, scored on Sunday against Liberia.

The Wanderers strikers scored the only goal of the game in Antalya as the Leone Stars held out for a 1-0 win, bouncing back from a 3-0 defeat to Togo a few days prior.

Bakayoko played 63 minutes, earning his second cap, but will now have got a feel of the unique tempo of African football, said his coach, and former Walsall midfielder John Kiester.

“I think it was a difficult game but we are both in the same direction in the process of identifying players,” he said of the Liberians.

“At times it is not about winning.

“I am happy for the team and for Amadou Bakayoko because this will give him confidence moving forward.

“Introducing some of these new lads around African football temperament, how to cope with that, is never easy. However, there are a lot of positives looking at the future.”

Bakayoko was one of several debutants in Friday’s game against Togo, many of whom were brought in from English sides.

The country is currently ranked 107th by FIFA and will soon learn their schedule for the 2023 AFCON in the Ivory Coast, with qualifiers taking place up to September of this year.

Along with the hosts, another 23 teams will qualify for the tournament via 12 groups of four for the tournament, which will be held next June and July.

Ex-West Ham and Bury midfielder Peter Butler is in charge of the Liberian side, who could come up against Sierra Leone in the qualifying as they are seeded separately.

“I want to congratulate Sierra Leone for a tough encounter – it is refreshing to see Sierra Leone bring so many young lads from England,” he said after the game.

“In games like this, we played them to identify talent in the process of building a new squad but I was proud of my players’ effort.

“It was great to see Sierra Leone trying to play good football. The first half was even but I think we played better in the second half.”

Sierra Leone complete their round of friendlies against the Republic of Congo on Tuesday in Antalya, Turkey.