Egypt's coach Shawky Gharib announced on Monday that his side will start preparations for their upcoming clash against Botswana in the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers on 29 September.

Botswana will host Egypt on 10 October in the third matchday of Group G before they face the Pharaohs in Cairo five days later.

Several reports suggested that the fourth matchday of the Egyptian League would be delayed at the request of the Egyptian coach, who preferred to start the preparation camp earlier, but Gharib later denied the reports and confirmed that the Pharaohs' camp will start on 29 September as scheduled.

''Our preparations camp will start as scheduled on 29 September," Gharib told Al-Ahram Sports on Monday.

''We didn't ask the Egyptian football association to delay the fourth matchday of the Egyptian league," he added.

Egypt – third in Group G – will be looking for a positive result against Botswana to keep their hopes alive in the qualifiers.

Egypt have lost their two previous games against Senegal and Tunisia in Dakar and Cairo, respectively.  

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