Zimbabwe coach Calliso Pasuwa expects a physical Senegal side when the COSAFA nation takes on the Group B favourites in their second match at the 2017 African Nations Cup finals on Thursday.

Zimbabwe opened their tournament with a credible 2-2 draw with Algeria and know they can take a giant step towards the quarterfinals if they can manage to beat the top-ranked Senegalese.

That will be no easy task given the quality the west Africans contain, but Pasuwa says his side should fear no-one in the competition.

“We are planning for Senegal now and remember they are very physical. They are one of the best teams in Africa,” Pasuwa told reporters.

“We saw our weaknesses when we played this game [against Algeria], but we also saw our strengths. We have to utilise on the strengths that we have as a team. We will then build on that strength going forward.

“Then on the weaknesses, we will have to work on them when we train for the next game.”

Zimbabwe have been rocked by a hamstring injury to striker Knowledge Musona, who they hope will be fit for their final pool match against Tunisia.

The loss of the KV Oostende forward just 10 minutes into the Algeria game was a huge blow for Pasuwa.

“As you know Musona has been one of our regular players, scoring goals,” he said. “To pull him out in the early stages of the game, it was something else when we look at how we had planned.”