Amavubi head coach Frank Torsten asserts his team “will make it difficult for Benin” to defeat them as they gear up for the two AFCON qualifiers against The Cheetahs.

It will be Torsten's ninth game in charge of the Rwanda national team since he took over on 1 November.

Having won three matches, drawn four and lost once, Torsten claimed that the team has made impressive strides and got better with every match and camp.

“I can already see that most of the tactics and instructions I have taught them in the last camps are still in their mind,” he said.

As Amavubi's head coach, the German gaffer faced Benin once when they lost 1-0 at Abidjan’s Felix Houphouet Boigny Stadium in World Cup Qualifiers in June.

The 62-year-old left Rafael York and Hakim Sahabo out of his 39-man squad for the AFCON Qualifiers, whilst Johan Kury, Salim Abdallah, Serge Kabanda, and Pacifique Ngabonziza were handed their first call-ups.

Torsten says his decision to omit Hakim Sahabo is due to the 19-year-old's misbehaviours. “Hakim is a guy who is giving a lot of problems in the camp. At the moment, I don’t see any situation for me to get him back.”

Rwanda will play Benin on 11 October in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, before squaring off at Amahoro Stadium on 15 October.

“I’m happy about this new stadium (Amahoro), I hope the field will be better than the last time (v Nigeria), but I’m positive that the crowd will give us a push,” said Torsten.