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The 2010 African Cup of Nations Champions, Egypt, will look to steady their ship and get back to winning ways when they take on the diminutive Niger in a 2012 African Cup of Nations qualifier.

The Group G match is scheduled to take place on Sunday afternoon in Niamey and the home side, Niger, will be expecting a fierce battle and possibly some backlash from the Pharaohs, who failed to claim all three points from their opening Group G match against Sierra Leone.

The Egyptian side is the firm favourite to progress from this group and they will do everything in their power to make up for their stuttering start. In their opening match they looked a far cry from the side that won the tournament earlier this year as they were held to a 1-1 draw at home by the Leone Stars.

The opening day draw brings back some sour memories for the Pharaohs who missed out on the recent World Cup in South Africa after also drawing in their opening World Cup qualifying tie and they will be desperate to avoid the same fate from happening again.

Hassan Shehata's charges, though, are unlikely to have too many problems overcoming a Niger outfit that rarely troubled South Africa in their first fixture. Niger were woeful against Bafana and were lucky to only lose 2-0. Had the South Africans been better finishers in front of goal the scoreline could have read six or seven nil.

Moreover, there is a huge gap in terms of class and quality between Niger and Egypt. On the world rankings 145 places separate the two sides as the Pharaohs are placed in ninth while Niger sit in the 154th spot.

It will definitely be a tough task for Niger as they came up against the best ranked side on the African confident. Still, they will take heart from the fact that Sierra Leone were able to snatch a point on the home soil of the Egyptians. This will give Niger the belief, that in front of their home fans, they can get something out of this game.

On the team news front not much is known of the Niger team besides from what was seen in their match against South Africa and they are expected to have an almost identical squad going into the game on Sunday.

For Egypt Shehata has recalled Zamalek striker Amr Zaki and Ahli striker Mohamed Fadl to the 23-man squad that will do duty against the West Africans while the injury to first-choice left-back Sayed Moawad sees Mohamed Nassef earn his first international call-up. Al-Ahly striker Mohamed Fadl has also been called up for the injured Geddo.

Also excluded from the squad is Zamalek playmaker Shikabala who was blasted by Shehata in the wake of the disappointing draw against Sierra Leone in their opening qualifier.

This is a must win match for Egypt and if they fail to get anything but the maximum three points they will be in for some harsh words from both the media and their fans.