Uganda coach Ayub Khalifa has declared himself pleased with the preparations for his side in the build-up for the COSAFA Women’s Under-17 Championship in Mauritius from September 20-29.

Khalifa is putting his players through their paces in Kampala having selected a provisional squad that features only two players with previous experience in international football – Juliet Nalukenge and Fauzia Najjemba – who have spent some time with the senior Uganda national side.

“We have been in camp for two days, the mood in camp is good and the attitude of the players is positive. I believe this camp will help us in having adequate preparations before the tournament,” Khalifa told reporters.

“We have mainly focused on improving the fitness levels of the players in the last two days, but we have as well tried to engage them with ball work.    “We shall have a practice match against Kampala select team [on Wednesday] and this is a game that will show us where we have reached and where we need to improve.”

Uganda have been drawn in Group A at the COSAFA Women’s Under-17 Championship and will play in the opening match of the tournament against Zambia on Sept. 20.

They will then feature against hosts Mauritius two days later, before closing out their pool play against Comoros in Sept. 24.

The East African guest nation will be taking part in the inaugural COSAFA Women’s Under-17 Championship, but teams from the country have played at a number of COSAFA events in the past.

This includes the Under-20 men’s competition in 2017, the senior women’s championship last year and the 2019 senior men’s competition.

Uganda have yet to enter the qualifiers for the African Under-17 Championships, but this year may give them the platform to prepare a team for that as they look ahead to the global finals in India in 2020.