The Pharaohs found themselves in a critical situation when they were held to a 1-1 home draw by Sierra Leone in the opening game Group G game of the 2012 Nations Cup qualifiers.

With only the group winners and the best two runners-up in the 11-group marathon advancing to the biennial competition in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon, Egypt have little margin for error.

"It will be like a sudden death game," Shehata, who steered Egypt to three successive Nations Cup titles in 2006, 2008 and 2010, was quoted as saying on the country's football association official website.

"We can't afford to drop any points. Any negative outcome will witness the end of the current generation."

The unthinkable prospect of Egypt missing out on a place in a competition they won a record seven times might well be on the cards if they failed to win at Niger and South Africa, who have three points, beat Sierra Leone in the other group match.

Shehata said that Egypt's draw against Sierra Leone, which prompted local media to heavily criticize him, was partly down to the lack of information about their 'mysterious opponents'.

But this will not be the case in Sunday's match which will be played at 04:30 PM Cairo local time.

"We couldn't watch any game for Sierra Leone but things are different now. We watched Niger's match against South Africa to know everything about our opponent," the 61-year-old added.

Traditional Formation

Shehata is likely to revert to a traditional 3-5-2 formation that features a sweeper in Zamalek's Hani Saied.

He employed a 4-4-2 strategy against Sierra Leone but Egypt's defense was repeatedly exposed by the visitors, who opened the scoring after a breakaway.

Egypt will be boosted by the return of Zamalek striker Amr Zaki, who is the only experienced frontman at Shehata's disposal.

The Bulldozer missed the Sierra Leone clash after Shehata accused him of feigning injury but his absence was clearly felt as the likes of Ismaili's Ahmed Ali and Harras Hodoud's Ahmed Mekki, both of whom lack international experience, lacked sharpness.

Borussia Dortmund's Mohamed Zidan is already out as he is still recovering from a serious knee injury he picked up in April while Ahli-bound striker Emad Meteb is missing due to lack of playing time.

Skipper Ahmed Hassan will not be available after suffering a cruciate ligament injury against Sierra Leone.

Egypt will also have to do without regular left-back Sayed Moawad and 2010 Nations Cup hero Geddo after the Ahli duo failed to recover from injuries in time to participate in the Niger crucial clash.

Egypt's Probable line up:

Essam Al-Hadari, Hani Saied, Mahmoud Fathallah, Wael Gomaa, Ahmed Elmohamady, Ahmed Fathi, Hossam Ghaly, Mohamed Abdul-Shafi, Ahmed Eid, Mohamed Abou-Treika, Amr Zaki