Eric Djemba-Djemba believes Andre Onana must be restored to Cameroon's starting XI for Saturday's last-16 tie with Nigeria at the Africa Cup of Nations.

Onana's involvement has been one of the controversies of the tournament after he chose to play for Manchester United against Tottenham the day before the Indomitable Lions' opener with Guinea, which he arrived too late to feature in.

He was picked by coach Rigobert Song for their next match against Senegal but was dropped again in favour of Fabrice Ondoa for the nail-biting group finale against Gambia.

And former Cameroon international Djemba-Djemba is adamant the fallout must end and the nation's best stopper be picked permanently.

The 2002 AFCON winner told LiveScore: "From the beginning, Song should have said to Onana that you come at the beginning or not at all.

"Because the Cameroon Football Federation gave Manchester United the option to keep him, that's what they did. They should have said he must join up at the right time. 

"But now he is with the squad and for sure he is a better goalkeeper than Ondoa. You can never compare the two. 

"He is one of the best goalkeepers in Africa and needs to play. It's unbelievable he is on the bench. All the speculation and talking must stop."

Hard to take

Injury to Mohamed Salah has also had a major bearing on the AFCON, affecting Egypt's campaign and robbing the tournament of arguably its biggest star.

The Liverpool forward has suffered a muscle injury that his agent Ramy Abbas Issa confirmed would keep him out for up to four weeks, with only intensive rehabilitation giving him a chance of further participation.

The Pharaohs did not win any of their three group games but still progressed to set up a last-16 tie with DR Congo on Sunday and Djemba-Djemba is hoping they can go further to give Salah every chance of playing again.

The ex-Manchester United midfielder, 42, said: "Salah is one of the best players not just in Africa but in the world.

"It's difficult to take because he is a star and the top scorer for Liverpool.

"We have seen young players come through for Egypt and we will maybe see somebody come in from the bench.

"But everybody knows Egypt are not doing well so it's a struggle. I hope they get to the semi-finals and maybe Salah will be fit."

Three teams can win it

Shock results defined the competition's group stage, with Algeria and Ghana already exiting the continental tournament and hosts Ivory Coast scraping through despite losing 4-0 to Equatorial Guinea.

And Djemba-Djemba has put his neck on the line by predicting an unfancied team to go all the way and lift the trophy on February 11.

He said: "I am sure one of the outsiders will win the Africa Cup [of Nations].

"You will not see Senegal win it. You will not see Morocco or Egypt win it either. It is not the Cameroon of back in the day — when I see them play I could cry.

"There are three teams that are fighting for it — Equatorial Guinea, Cape Verde and South Africa.

"All three teams look really good. When you see South Africa play it is like Cameroon 10 years ago!

"I am sure the winners will be one of the smaller football countries."