Senegal take on co-hosts Equatorial Guinea in their second Africa Cup of Nations Group A game on Wednesday evening, looking to bounce back from the surprise 2-1 defeat they suffered at the hands of Zambia on Saturday. The match takes place at the Estadio de Bata, kick-off 21h00 SA time.

The Teranga Lions must pick up three points to revitalise their hopes of reaching the quarterfinals, but will need a drastic improvement in their level of play if they are to turn around their fortunes.

The West Africans will look to the likes of Moussa Sow, Demba Ba and Papiss Cisse to inspire them to victory, though all three mis-fired against Zambia and it was instead youngster Dame N’Doye who found the back of the net, though his strike proved to be nothing more than a consolation.

Coach Amara Traore insists that Senegal will be able to put their opening defeat behind them and win back-to-back matches against the co-hosts and Libya to secure a place in the last eight, and added that his side cannot afford any more “silly mistakes”.

As for Equatorial Guinea, they are still flying high after their 1-0 win over Libya in the tournament opener, secured by a goal from former Real Madrid midfielder Javier Balboa. If they can bring the confidence and momentum gained in that match into this clash with Senegal, their supporters could be in for a real treat.

However, Nzalang Nacional will do well to view Senegal as a wounded animal and be wary of their abilities. There is no doubt, on paper at least, that the Lions of Teranga have players of a higher quality and pedigree than the co-hosts.

Equatorial Guinea will in all likelihood have to do without captain Rodolfo Bodipo. The attacker only came on as a substitute against Libya due to an ankle knock and appeared to injure his Achilles in the short time he was on the pitch. He could return for Nzalang Nacional's last group match.