'It's a challenge for us' - Senegal boss Cissé admits he's 'struggling to replace' Mane

Senegal head coach Aliou Cissé admits it will be difficult to replace Sadio Mane after building the whole squad around him.

The Bayern Munich striker, who was instrumental in winning the Africa Cup of Nations in February, has been ruled out after undergoing surgery to reattach a tendon to the head of his right fibula after being initially named to the World Cup squad.

"Obviously it's a big shame for Sadio and a shame for the national team, but we have to think about the player's safety and health," Cissé said, ahead of his Group opener A against the Netherlands.

"It's a challenge for us to miss Sadio Mane. All coaches build their team around the best player and obviously it's the same for us.

"We hope he recovers quickly and can get back to playing as soon as possible, but we have a strong team of experienced players and young players ready for the challenge.

"It is difficult to replace Sadio Mane. He is an extremely important player for our team and we are determined to do what we can without him.

"We're going to have to work even harder as a team without him. When you talk about morale, of course it affects you.

"We are not just talking about the Senegalese people here, people all over the world are saddened by what happened.

"I received many phone calls from many people telling me how sad they were.

"He's our best player, the leader in that respect, (and) it's a big loss but we still have a strong mentality, we're comfortable being together and I'm sure we'll get good results at this World Cup."

Holland coach Louis van Gaal tried to sign Mane from Southampton when he was manager of Manchester United, but lost to Liverpool.

He knows what a loss it will be for Senegal, even though he will be without Memphis Depay for the opener as he is still not fully fit after being troubled by a hamstring injury during the last two months.

"I think Mane is an amazing player and I wanted him as Manchester United manager. He was at Southampton and I pursued him at the time," the Dutch boss said.

"He can open a game and Senegal will really miss him - but the same goes for us, we miss our top scorer and king of assists."

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