It will be a gritty West African derby this midweek at the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon as bookies favourite Senegal battle the Stallions of Burkina Faso for a place in the final of this year’s competition.

In the other semi-final on Thursday, the Pharaohs of Egypt will slug it out with hosts Cameroon.

The Lions of Teranga, first runners-up in the last edition, will be hoping to go one step further this time around having seen themselves steadily grow into the competition with each game.

They have had to deal with different mitigating issues enroute to the semi-finals, with goalkeeper Edouard Mendy and defensive stalwart Khalidou Koulibaly missing the first two group games due to COVID-19.

Nampalys Mendy is another who missed the first two outings for Senegal.

The Senegalese have looked way better since then and after battling Watford FC over the availability of winger Ismaila Sarr, his performance and goal off the bench against Equatorial Guinea would have brought a lot more encouragement.

Even without having the same pedigree and as many recognizable names as their opposition, a third semi-final appearance across their last four AFCON appearances awaits the “Burkinababes”, who have had to grit their way through since the start of the competition.

Their only loss in the tournament so far has come against the hosts Cameroon, falling to two Vincent Aboubakar penalties.

For Senegal, it is a competition that comes with a heavy burden of expectation for the team.

Many view them as one of Africa’s best and having already featured in the final last time out, they are expected to match that result in Cameroon and go a step further to be crowned champions of Africa for the first time in their history.