DAKA, MWEPU IN

And speaking on arrival at Kenneth Kaunda International Airport, Mwepu said the Chipolopolo will need to be aggressive and beat Algeria to have a chance of qualifying for the AFCON.

“If we lose this then it is done for us. My appeal to the guys is to just play compact football together and help each other in the field. We need to show good character and have the right mentality,” Mwepu said.

Mwepu has called on fans to support the boys as they face a tough challenge of beating Algeria before facing Zimbabwe in the last AFCON qualifier.

And Patson Daka is anticipating an exciting game against the Desert Foxes who are the favourites having beaten Zambia 5-0 when the two teams last met on November 14, 2019. Daka said despite being under pressure, Zambia still has a chance of qualifying for the AFCON as they need to win the remaining two games to achieve the set objective.

“To be in this situation is always encouraging because without pressure you can’t achieve anything we need the pressure so that we can reach our target. “We have put ourselves in this situation and it is only us who can move ourselves away from this and it can only be done by working hard which is exactly what we are going to do,” Daka said.

“We have two games to play and we need victories in both matches that is what we want to achieve so we know it is a do or die game we have to make sure that we focus on Algeria first before playing Zimbabwe.”

And Musonda, who captained the Chipolopolo in the last two games said they have not given up on their AFCON dream.

Meanwhile, Amazulu striker Augustine Mulenga and Black Leopards midfielder Rodrick Kabwe are also in the Chipolopolo camp ahead of Thursday's qualifier against Algeria.

Mulenga and Kabwe complete the 12 foreign-based stars summoned by “Micho” following the sidelining of the Kangwa brothers, Klings and Evans who were dropped while, an injury has knocked out striker Fashion Sakala from participating on the two AFCON qualifiers.