Cautious Egypt have no plans to revert to a bold approach as they open their African Cup of Nations qualifying campaign away to Tunisia on Sunday, coach Hector Cuper said.

The Argentinean once again deflected some criticism over his normally cautious approach, insisting he would never change his tactics as long as Egypt are winning.

Egypt were renowned for their attractive brand of football under former manager Hassan Shehata, who led them to an unprecedented hat-trick of straight Nations Cup titles from 2006 to 2010.

However, they suffered a huge decline in form following Shehata's departure, often leaking soft goals as they missed out on the biennial tournament three times in a row.

The Pharaohs defied the odds to reach the Nations Cup final earlier this year before losing to Cameroon in the final, with Cuper given credit for tightening what used to be a porous backline.

"I will not change my strategy as long as we win. It's true some aspects of our game need to be improved … but this will come by time," Cuper told a news conference in Tunis on Saturday.

"It's difficult to try a new strategy in a competitive match, but I'm always ready to surprise my opponents."

On paper, Egypt seem favourites to overcome perennial North African rivals Tunisia in their opening Group J clash at the Rades Stadium, given the recent shaky form of the Carthage Eagles.

Tunisia will also miss some key players including goalkeeper Aymen Mathlouthi and defenders Ali Yacoubi, Oussama Haddadi, Hamdi Nagguez and Valencia’s Aymen Abdennour.

"There are some absences in the Tunisia squad but that should not make us comfortable. We are facing a strong side that have many stars," Cuper added.

The former Inter Milan and Valencia boss reiterated that Egypt are not over-reliant on pacy forward Mohamed Salah, the team's undisputed star who is linked with a summer move to English Premier League side Liverpool.

The AS Roma winger has scored 29 goals in 52 international appearances with Egypt since making his debut in 2011.

"Of course Salah is a key player for us, but he is not alone. If Tunisia manage to keep him at bay, we have other options," Cuper said.  

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