AFCON 2015: South Africa captain Furman aware of high stakes in clash against Ghana

Bafana need to defeat the Black Stars and hope that Senegal dispatch Algeria in a simultaneous Group C fixture to ensure a quarter-final berth in Equatorial Guinea.Anything less than three points will spell instant elimination for Shakes Mashaba's men – a fact Furman is only too well aware of.

Furman said: “Pressure is on every team in this tournament, every nation expects to win, all the fans want their team to go all the way and we are no different. There is definitely pressure on us whether we show it or not. We know what is at stake and we know how much rides on tonight's match. There is no doubt we are fully focused and we definitely won't be taking this game lightly.

“Ghana is a very good team. They have very good players and also have a very good record in Afcon and we know all about that but tonight's game is 90 minutes – and it's going to be a fight out there. No-one will dwell on the past or on the history. When that whistle goes we will be thinking about our jobs, we will be thinking about what the coach's instructions are, we will be thinking about winning the game and that's all that's important to us.”

The Doncaster Rovers midfielder continued: “We have been working on what we need to improve on, looking at the past two games. We have had talks among ourselves and hopefully it will be showing in the game.

“It would be great for all the fans of Bafana Bafana and all our followers to celebrate victory. We know how much it means to them, we value their support and all messages on social media as well as the Minister of Sport who is over here to support us and bringing messages of good luck from back home. We want to give them a team that will make them celebrate, we know what is at stake and we want to make our nation proud of us.”

Mashaba has  named his side for the upcoming showdown , notably dropping the in-form Sibusiso Vilakazi, while also replacing goalkeeper Jackson Mabokgwane with Brilliant Khuzwayo – the third keeping change in as many matches.