Southampton forward Sadio Mane has said that he can’t wait to join back up with his country ahead of two matches which could well define his sides progression to the full competition of next year’s African Cup of nations.
Mane heads away full of confidence after scoring a brace in his sides 3-2 win over Liverpool all of which came after being two goals down at the break which was when Mane was brought on and he made a real difference to the final outcome.
The win lifted Saints to 7th in the Premier League table ahead of the International break and gives everyone a real lift heading into the final section of the regular season.
Senegal currently top the standings, having taken maximum points from their opening two matches, and will be looking to reinforce their position, with only the first-placed side guaranteed a place in next year’s finals.
Important games for Mane
Mane is a pivotal play for the Senegal side which contains a number of Premier League players now and they will be looking to all but confirm their passage through to next year’s finals with a couple of victories in these matches coming up.
The forward admitted that he knows the task ahead of him is tough but, feels his side can cope with the challenges in front of them, he said: "For the international break we have important games, because it's AFCON qualification,”
The team need two get maximum points from these matches to be assured of their place at the tournament at this early stage and know that they don't need to rush to get it done but, it would be nice to qualify early, he said: “Our ambition is to qualify, but we have to win all our games. We're going to do our best to win games and to qualify for our country."
He added, "We start at home, so we're going to try to do our best like always, to give our best for the fans, the country and to make them happy.