Captain Asamoah Gyan is confident Ghana will improve in their next game at the Africa Cup of Nations after drawing their opener against DR Congo.

The Congolese came back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 as the Group B fixture at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium put life into the tournament.

Goals from Emmanuel Agyemang Badu and Kwadwo Asamoah put Ghana two up and on course for an opening win but it was not sufficient to earn Black Stars coach Kwesi Appiah victory as Tresor Mputu and Dieumerci Mbokani scored to tie the game.

But Gyan, who came close to giving Ghana the win in the final seconds is hopeful of improvement with their next game up against group leaders, Mali on Thursday as they target qualification from the group stage.

Gyan said: “What we have to do is to go home and correct our mistakes and make sure that anytime we are ahead, we do our best to win the game. It’s a big lesson to us.”

The Ghana captain admits the Black Stars could have put the game beyond the Leopards but mistakes cost them three points.

“Talking about this game[2-2 draw with Congo], we were up by two goals to nil and the Congolese equalized.

“We made a couple of mistakes and they came back strongly. They showed great character.

“Although it was a balanced game, we will make sure we go home and correct our mistakes and come back for the second game.”