Niamey — Niger's traumatised players still bear scars from their previous run-ins with the Uganda Cranes, with David Obua the ever-lasting terrifying force the hosts intend to look out for.

"Is he (Obua) coming?" Niger lead forward Amidou Djibou asked, with memories of the Hearts midfielder's well-taken hat-trick against Niger last year still evident.

Niger will come into the fixture against Cranes tomorrow dripping with fear - aware that if Obua and the rest of the team get into the mood, another torrid time is in line.

While Cranes boss Bobby Williamson has a gifted pool that he will be spoilt for choice, his counterpart possesses no such luxuries.

Niger will line-up in an unchanged 4-3-3 formation, with Souleyman Sakou, Djibou and Camilou Daouda in attack.

While Uganda's enduring love affair with the Nations Cup and World Cup has been a roller-coaster of pure agony down the years, the Cranes could literally seal top place in Group Three with a win over Niger and defeat for Benin away to Angola.

The Mena of Niger have not won a game in the group following defeats to Uganda, Benin and Angola. however many believe a decent result will lift a population struggling to overcome poverty.

Just as recently as 2006, the UNDP revealed that 90% of the Niger citizens lived below the poverty line.

In the run-up to the game, the Niger football federation has been forced to turn to its poverty-stricken citizens for financial salvation to sustain the team's preparations.

Match tickets are less than half a dollar yet just a sizeable number will afford to purchase one.

"There is no money," one lamented.

Uganda is not an economic powerhouse, but should be glad to encounter a team as impoverished as Niger's Mena.