Botswana coach Stanley Tshosane remains defiant ahead of his side's African Nations Cup clash with Mali, despite their early knockout.

The Zebras were thrashed 6-1 in their second group game against Guinea after losing their opener 1-0 against favourites Ghana.

Mali need a win to stand any chance of progressing to the last eight as they are tied on three points with Guinea, who face the Black Stars in the other group match.

"No one did us any favours for us to get here. We worked to get here so Mali will have to work hard for what they want," Tshosane said.

"We had a plan for the three games in the group stages and to get to the quarter-finals.

"The last eight is not going to happen now so we'll change our mindset into at least leaving this country with a victory. We'll be going all out against Mali."

And Tshosane is hopeful of staying on as national coach despite his side's early exit from the competition.

"My contract is ending next month. One loss is not enough to sack a coach," he said.

"We are a very small nation, we do not play professional football in my country, most of the players have other jobs they do. We also need to expose our players internationally.

"We need to know when and how to react, when to go forward, when to go backwards and our concentration must be better, but we have learnt from this experience."