MONROVIA, Montserrado – Liberian international Dauda Bortu has warned his teammates not to underestimate Togo ahead of their crucial Group A Africa Cup of Nations qualifier at the Antoinette Tubman Stadium on Sunday.

After Tunisia defeated Djibouti 3-0 on Friday, the Lone Star are now second place in their group and could qualify for Gabon 2017 if they win the game against Togo’s Sparrow Hawks this weekend.

Group A Standings. Source: Confederation of African Football

The Norway-based striker expressed his sentiments in an interview with The Bush Chicken.

“We played them in the first game, and we lost, but obviously that was a different stage in football, and this is also a different stage in our qualifying round,” Bortu said. “We know that they are a team that wants to win. They are not coming here to throw away points. So we will approach the game with caution. We will have respect for our opponents, but we will put maximum effort so that we can collect the maximum points here at home.”

Meanwhile, Lone Star’s right back Solomon Grimes also urged his teammates not to get carried away by the results of the first leg of the matchup, which Togo won 2-1.

“Obviously, we want maximum points, especially playing at home, because that’s the only way we are going to qualify by picking up maximum points,” Grimes said. “We also need to approach this game with much discipline. We must not get carried away by the previous result because of all those showers of praises. We need to start from scratch when it comes to Sunday’s match.”

Featured photo by T. Kla Wesley, Jr.