Madagascar head coach Nicolas Dupuis has expressed his optimism that his side can beat one of the AFCON 2019 title favourites, Nigeria, in Sunday’s Group B encounter at the Alexandria Stadium, reports Completesports.com.

The Barea who are appearing in their first Africa Cup of Nations finals are on the brink of securing a place in the knockout out stages after picking up four points from their first two games in the competition.

Dupuis’ men were held to a 2-2 draw by the Syli Nationale of Guinea in their first game and secured a narrow 1-0 win against Burundi on Thursday.

The debutants head into the game against the Super Eagles as the underdogs, but Dupuis is upbeat his team can create a big upset by snatching the maximum points at stake in the encounter.

“We hope to win against Super Eagles tomorrow (Sunday). A point will be enough for us to progress, but three points are better than one,” Dupuis told a news conference on Saturday.

“I am proud of what we have achieved in our very first AFCON but we face Nigeria, and we expect a very tough game. We have to try and recover because there is some tiredness in the squad.

“We have our strategy we hope to deploy tomorrow. Maybe we won’t see much of the ball, but we have a plan about what to do when we get it. We have a plan, and we hope to do well tomorrow.

Sunday’s encounter at the Alexandria Stadium will start at 5pm Nigerian time.

The Syli Nationale of Guinea and the Swallows of Burundi will also clash at the same time, at All Salam Stadium Cairo.