Shakes hopes ref won't spoil match

South Africa left for Uyo yesterday having already booked a place at next year's tournament in Equatorial Guinea.

Mashaba expects his men to treat the clash against the Super Eagles, who need maximum points to qualify, with the same intensity that saw them dispose of Sudan to book qualification at the weekend.

But he argued that the man in the middle holds all the cards. Rajindraparsad Seechurn from Mauritius will referee the game.

"The only thing with these games is to hope that we get the best match officials, that is all. If we get the best then we are confident of results coming our way," said Mashaba.

"Nigeria are in trouble and they need this [win]. The game is also about more than just the three points because of the history between the two rival countries. Nigerians never want to lose to South Africans and that alone will make this a humdinger of a match.

"We also have an assignment to break this hoodoo that we are going to lose when we play Nigeria. People always ask us if we are going to win against Nigeria, but we want to have a positive approach."

Mashaba was hard on his players in their final training session at the Nike Centre in Soweto before departure and said they must keep calm in the dying minutes of the game. In their 2-1 win against Sudan at the weekend, Bafana allowed their opponents to dictate terms, forcing them to park the bus to defend their lead.

"I see them improving game by game," said Mashaba when asked if he expected a better display because Bafana were not under pressure with a Afcon finals spot secured.

"I would not say they were complacent in the last few minutes against Sudan, that was something else."

Mashaba will be forced to make at least one change against Nigeria with Thulani Serero out with a hamstring injury.