The seven-time African champions were staggeringly held at home to a 1-1 draw by lowly Sierra Leone in September before losing 1-0 away to another minnows - Niger - a month later.

Hassan Shehata and his men were slated by the media not only for their unsatisfying results in the qualifying stage, but also for their below-par performances and inability to show coherence.

Wednesday's game at Cairo Stadium could be Egypt's perfect chance to redeem themselves but they will face more criticism should they once again underachieve.

"We are trying to regain our fans' confidence in us after a draw with Sierra Leone and a loss to Niger," Egypt coach Shehata told reporters. "We want to put in a good performance."

Egypt are missing a number of key figures through injury, including Amr Zaki, Emad Meteb, Ahmed Hassan and Hosni Abd-Rabou.

Consequently, Shehata is trying to inject new blood by adding the likes of MCDR playmaker Ayman Hefni, Amr Al-Sulaya of Ismaili, Zamalek's Ibrahim Salah and Ahmed Duiedar from Police Union.

"We have a number of players missing because they are unfit to play and we really need them," Shehata added.

"But the match against Australia will be a good chance to field new faces which have just been called up to the squad."

It will be the second time both sides meet. In their previous match, Australia beat Egypt 4-3 on penalties in a friendly tournament in 1987.

Very Good Test

On the other hand, Australia coach Holger Osieck is expecting a 'very good test' in Egypt.

"We'll be playing our regular style - we want to play positively and up the park," Osieck said. "I want to see a lot of movement off the ball and a team that plays very courageously.

"I think Egypt may play similar to the Arabian countries, the Arabian style. I've seen Egypt a couple of times and the last time was in the Confederations Cup in 2009 where I think they had a pretty strong tournament.

"We all probably know that they won the African Cup of Nations in January, so I expect them to be a very good test for us."