Cameroon and Ivory Coast aim to forget mediocre starts

MONGOMO, Equatorial Guinea, Jan 24 (Reuters) - Heavyweight contenders Cameroon and Ivory Coast will try to forget mediocre starts to the African Nations Cup when they play their second Group D matches later on Saturday.

Ivory Coast take on Mali at the Nuevo Estadio de Malabo before Cameroon meet Guinea at the same venue.

The first two group matches ended 1-1 with Cameroon coming from behind against Mali and the Ivorians, despite being down to 10 men, holding Guinea.

Striker Gervinho will be missing for the Elephants as he starts a two-match ban for the red card he received for retaliation against Guinea.

Captain Stephane Mbia returns for Cameroon after completing a suspension picked up in qualifying but his deputy Enoh Eyong is still out with injury.

On Friday, Senegal went top of Group C after a 1-1 draw with South Africa while Ghana beat Algeria 1-0 thanks to a late goal from Asamoah Gyan.

(Editing by Tony Jimenez; [e-mail]; [phone]; Reuters Messaging: [e-mail])