Injured Sadio Mane will be in Nations Cup squad say Senegal

Dakar: Senegal will include Sadio Mane in their final 23-man squad for the African Nations Cup despite his club Southampton saying the injured midfielder will be out for several weeks, coach Alain Giresse said on Monday. 

“Mane is in the list of 23 players, he has a muscle problem at the moment,” Giresse told a news conference at which he was supposed to announce his final squad for the tournament in Equatorial Guinea but deferred naming a definitive list. 

Mane picked up a calf muscle injury in Southampton`s Premier League win over Arsenal on New Year`s Day.

“It will be four to six weeks (out)," Southampton manager Ronald Koeman told the club`s website on Sunday. 

"Senegal maybe will call him up and see the player, but he will not play in the African Cup of Nations." 

Giresse suggested otherwise on Monday when he told reporters Mane would be examined by the national team`s doctors with a view to joining the squad on Jan. 11, just over a week before Senegal open their Group C campaign against Ghana in Mongomo. 

Giresse said West Ham United striker Diafra Sakho would also be part of the squad despite a persistent injury.

Senegal will also face Algeria and South Africa in the group stage.