Today

Algeria          v       Tunisia                     6pm              

Senegal        v       Zimbabwe              9pm

GABON – Senegal coach, Aliou Cisse will leave nothing to chance, when he prepares his team for their 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) Group B football clash against Zimbabwe on Thursday after watching the Warriors run Algeria to the end in an exciting 2-all draw, which Kalisto Pasuwa’s men could have won.

Soon after the Warriors-Algeria match, Cisse presided over a hard-fought 2-0 win by the Lions of Teranga over Tunisia and now turns his sights on the next challenge against Zimbabwe.

Cisse said in the match against Algeria, Zimbabwe reinforced his view of the Warriors, whom he said were a team just as dangerous as any in the group.

"I said before the start of the tournament that there is no small team at this level,” he said.

"Once you get to this level, then you cannot be viewed as a small team. Against Algeria, Zimbabwe showed how good they are and we will not take them for granted.”

He said Zimbabwe’s strength was in their cohesion and he was expecting a difficult match against Pasuwa’s charges.

"Zimbabwe players have played together a lot. They understand each other very well such that the match against them will be a very difficult one. From what we have seen so far, I think it points to an interesting match between Senegal and Zimbabwe. We are not under-estimating them, we have to prepare the way we prepared for the Tunisia match.”

Zimbabwe arrived at this tournament, as the group underdogs, but after giving Algeria a good run on Sunday, the general sentiment towards them has shifted.

Agencies