Odemba says the losses opened their eyes to the amount of work they have to do to compete effectively at the top level.

“We wanted to experience how they play…we know they are ranked higher than Gambia. There is a big gap…technical and tactical…between us and Ivory Coast. No wonder they are highly ranked; and we picked a lot of lessons from it,” the tactician said.

Starlets were a pale shadow of their usual selves, losing by identical 2-0 scorelines to the Ivorians in a double-header international friendly at the Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium in Abidjan — on Wednesday last week and on Tuesday.

Odemba believes the loss is a move in the right direction as she burns the midnight oil to prepare a formidable team for the final round of the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against the Gambia in October.

She is looking forward to more ‘baptisms by fire’ in the form of challenging friendlies.

“In the first game, we played East Africa-based players and they beat us 2-0. In the next game, we added the European-based players and the score was the same. We picked lessons and the good thing is we have time (to improve). We are hoping for another friendly in June and to play in Cecafa as well because it is around the corner. That will be good for our preparations before we face Gambia,” the Kenya Police Bullets boss said.

Echoing her coach’s comments, Simba Queens midfielder Corazon Aquino called for more friendlies to enable them gauge themselves and improve on their weak areas.

“It was a good exposure to play against Ivory Coast. Going forward, I suggest that we should be playing a friendly during every international break,” she said.

Starlets are expected to play the Gambia in October as they seek a second ever appearance at the continental level — following on from their debut in 2016 in Cameroon.