Ex-Bristol City striker Famara Diedhiou to battle with Mohamed Salah for Africa Cup of Nations trophy

Former Bristol City striker Famara Diedhiou is on the verge of an Africa Cup of Nations trophy after reaching the final, where they will play Egypt.

After missing their first match through COVID isolation, the 29-year-old has played in four of their matches and scored the winning goal against Equatorial Guinea in the quarter-finals.

He has already played more minutes than he did at the first AFCON he was involved in back in 2017, which was played just a few months before his arrival at Bristol City.

Standing in the way of what could be his first triumph on the international stage is Liverpool super star Mohamed Salah and his Egyptian side, who yesterday knocked out hosts Cameroon on penalties.

Fortunately for Diedhiou, who last season was playing up top with the likes of Nahki Wells and Adam Nagy, he has another Liverpool player to call upon to combat the world class ability of Salah.

Sadio Mané, the captain of Senegal, is the third highest top scorer in the competition with three goals and two assists, which could stand his side in good stead for Sunday’s match.

The match will be played at the Paul Biya Stadium in Olembe and it will begin at 19:00 and able to watch on both BBC and Sky Sports.

Earlier in the competition, academy graduate Jojo Wollacott played in all of Ghana’s group stage matches but the Black Stars suffered a shock elimination.

One-time loanee Steven Caulker was also involved in the competition, swapping his allegiance from England to Sierra Leone, where he played in all three of their matches.

Diedhiou’s Bristol City career ended in difficult circumstances as he wasn’t included in the final fixture of the season against Brentford.

The Senegalese striker’s contract ran down last season and despite his own words wanting to stay, he joined Turkish side Alanyaspor on a four-year deal, scoring seven goals in 17 appearances for his new club.

Before his move to Turkey though, he had played at Ashton Gate for four years and found the net on 51 occasions in the 169 games he played for the club.

But despite his years of service, City were unable to recoup a fee for him and he left on a free transfer, despite City’s efforts to try and negotiate a new deal with him.

He though was unhappy with how his time at the club came to an end and last year said: “That’s not the end I wanted I always wanted to stay at Bristol City,” to a fan back in May.