By Admin,

Algeria head coach Christian Gourcuff believes Ethiopia will pose the biggest threat to his team in qualifying for the 2017 African Cup of Nations in Gabon.

The North Africans have been handed a relatively safe passage into the finals with minnows Lesotho and Seychelles joining the Fennec Foxes and the Walias in Group J.

Gourcuff is aware of the difficulties the 1990 champions will face in Ethiopia but is confident his side can repeat the 2-1 win they managed in their 2015 AFCON qualifying campaign in Addis-Abeba last year.

“The qualifiers won’t be easy, and without underestimating Seychelles and Lesotho, I think that the final of Group J will be decided between Algeria and Ethiopia.

“To seal our qualification we will have to especially win our games against the Ethiopians and try to achieve a 100 percent record during the campaign,” said Gourcuff.

“We will have to perform in Addis-Abeba when we travel to Ethiopia in March 2016. We are aware of the difficulties lying ahead of us on the road, but there is no room for mistakes and we will have to emulate our victory in Addis-Abeba last September.”

Algeria along with Ghana missed out hosting the 2017 tourney with 2012 AFCON co-hosts Gabon getting the nod.