05.01.2015 17:05 h

Mane and Sakho included but questionable for Senegal

Diafra Sakho
Diafra Sakho

Senegal coach Alain Giresse has included injured strikers Sadio Mane and Diafra Sakho in his 23 player squad for the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations but a final decision on whether they will go to Equatorial Guinea has yet to be confirmed.

An original list of 28 players, for the January 17 to February 8 showpiece, has been whittled down to a maximum of 23 but Frenchman Giresse can still alter his final squad within 48 hours of their opening match against Ghana on January 19.

"Sadio Mane is in the list of 23 players, he has a muscular problem and we will wait until January 11 in order to make a final decision," Giresse told a press conference about the Southampton player on Monday.

"We'll make a decision once we've consulted the doctors." added the former international midfielder.

West Ham's Sahko is carrying a back injury picked up on January 1, the same day as Mane, and also remains questionable.

"We are expecting him tomorrow (Tuesday) and in his case, we will proceed depending on the opinion of our medical staff who are very competent." continued Giresse.

Senegal will continue their preparation in Morocco, the original 2015 host country before being replaced by Equatorial Guinea, and will play fellow qualifiers Guinea on Friday and Gabon on January 13.

Also in Group C with Senegal are South Africa and Algeria in arguably the toughest pool in the tournament.