Gabon hope the large support from the stands will once again drive them forward when they take on Congo-Brazzaville in their second Group A clash at the African Nations Cup finals in Equatorial Guinea on Wednesday.

"The Panthers" had plenty of support in the stands in Bata during their opening 2-0 win over fancied Burkina Faso last Saturday, with fans flooding across the border to cheer on their side, now firmly ensconced as Dark Horses for the title.

Led by the brilliance of star man Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, they should be too powerful for a plucky but limited Congo-Brazzaville side.

"I don't know if we are expected to win the Nations Cup, but we want to be strong," Aubameyang told RFI. "When we play our game like we can, we keep the ball well and that puts our opponent in trouble. This is what makes the difference."

Gabon coach Jorge Costa will likely make minimal changes to a side that played superbly as a team against Burkina Faso, led right from the back by the excellent goalkeeper Didier Ovono.

What he will be looking for most is consistency in performance, something that has been a worry for the side in the past.

And there are few more wily coaches out there than Congo's Claude LeRoy if they don't, the Frenchman appearing in a record eighth continental finals.

He has reached the last eight in six of his seven previous Nations Cup appearances, missing out for the first time in South Africa in 2013 when in charge of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

But this time he lines up with arguably the weakest team in the competition - their first-choice goalkeeper Christoffer Mafoumbi plays in the fourth-tier in France - and getting them into the Last 8 would be among his greatest triumphs.

Congo can point to a fine recent record against Gabon though. They have not lost in any of their five previous meetings going back a decade.

Their most recent clashes were in Pointe Noire and Franceville in 2013, where Congo won 1-0 and played to a 0-0 draw respectively.