Grant Kekana - Bafana Bafana highly motivated against a desperate Tunisian side

Kekana is most likely to be part of the starting line-up and continue to deliver another clean sheet with the rest of the defense at Stade Amadou Gon Coulibaly Stadium in Korhogo, north of Côte d’Ivoire tonight (5pm, 7pm SA Time).

Bafana are currently second behind Mali with three points and only need to avoid a loss to be guaranteed to go through and Kekana says their 4-0 win over Namibia is all in the past.

READ: Elias Achouri says Tunisia is growing in confidence

"Ya, I think to be honest we're all highly motivated about tomorrow's [tonight's] game. We know the importance of it, we don't wanna get complacent as to what we've achieved in the previous game. You know us from Sundowns we have a thing with the North Africans, it's always a big rivalry but here it's the national team, all that aside, we are here for the pride of our nation and we're gonna try and do our best out there tomorrow," Kekana said.

Following the 2-0 loss to Mali in the opening game, head coach Hugo Broos decided to field an all-Sundowns back five including goalkeeper and captain Ronwen Williams.

But it was the reunification at centre-back of Kekana and his teammate Mothobi Mvala after dropping Super Sport United’s Siyanda Xulu.

Kekana says it was easy to slot in, especially playing around teammates he’s familiar with.

"I think it makes it relatively easy because it's someone that I train with each and every day, so, obviously the synergy is there. Even with Ronwen's leadership at the back, he's very vocal and he communicates quite well. So, I think everything was set out the way it was supposed to be on the day and we felt comfortable playing with each other because we're used to each other," Kekana added.

Another strength of a Sundowns dominated starting line-up, especially in a game against a team like Tunisia is their experience on the continent in the CAF inter-club competitions and Kekana knows that with their good record against North Africans, this is what is required.

"I think we were fortunate enough at Mamelodi Sundowns that we get to experience Africa, all the different conditions. So, I think that has played a big role in how we manage the AFCON. Obviously, you can see the level is very high, games are unpredictable. Every team is out here to win. So, the level is very high but we're just also grateful that we've been taking part in the Champions League and that's helped us adapt to AFCON."