EL-HADJI Diouf says he shoulders the expectations of 10 million people as he leaves the Reebok for the African Nations Cup.

He leads Senegal into Africa's showpiece tournament, which kicks-off on January 20, knowing he could miss the next six weeks of Premiership action if he achieves his ambition of lifting the trophy for the first time in his country's history.

And nothing short of an appearance in the final at the 44,000-capacity Ohene Djan Stadium in Ghana's capital city, Accra, would appease the success-hungry Senegal public, the flamboyant Whites striker admitted.

"I am captain of 10 million people and my family are very proud," Diouf said before jetting out to Ghana, to face a qualifying group containing South Africa, Angola and Tunisia. "But the pressure is different over there. The fans are more demanding than they are in this country.

"They will not settle for a draw, they want to win every game, so they can be very tough on you if you don't deliver the goods."

The timing of the competition is a point of contention for nearly every Premiership manager, most of whom will lose at least one player to international duty for a month.

More than 40 players based in England, from Arsenal to Accrington Stanley, will be involved in the 26th biannual tournament, which continues to be scheduled in January despite calls from clubs across Europe for it to be switched to the summer. For the fiercely competitive African countries, the 16-team competition is as important, if not more so, than the World Cup.

Senegal have never claimed the crown, but reached the final in 2002 - the same year Diouf sealed a £10million move to Liverpool after starring in the World Cup finals in Japan six months later. And the Wanderers man believes the Teranga Lions can go one better this time, providing they avoid the in-fighting and administrative problems which prompted Diouf to temporarily quit playing for his country earlier this year.

"I think we have got a very good team and if you look, we are made up mainly of players playing in the top leagues here or France," he said. "We don't fear anyone. There are one or two teams we would rather play later in the tournament, but I think people would rather avoid Senegal."

One of those top teams would be Senegal's fierce rivals, Ivory Coast, who were drawn in a tough group alongside Nigeria, Mali and Benin.

Whites defender Abdoulaye Meite, pictured, claims 1992 champions the Ivory Coast can win the tournament again.

"Our group has been termed the group of death," he said. "But you can either play the powerful sides early on or you can get them later. We want to win the cup so we might as well get them out of the way early on.

"There is a lot of pressure on us, but that is something we prepare for. We will use that to spur us on."