South Africa captain Thulani Hlatshwayo says the team wants to secure an early ticket to the Africa Cup of Nations next year by beating Ghana on Thursday.

The Bafana Bafana of South Africa hosts the Black Stars at the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg in this crucial encounter.

Hlatshwayo has indicated that the team wants to prevent a situation they faced in the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.

South Africa had to secure qualification in their final game against Libya where they needed to seal a draw or win to qualify.

A similar situation they will face should they lose to the Black Stars on Thursday ahead of their final game with Sudan in Khartoum.

“We obviously know how important these two games are, especially playing at home against Ghana who we lost to in the first round,” Hlatshwayo told the media.

“It’s very important for us to get a result because we don’t want to have the same situation like the last time we qualified for Afcon 2019 where we had to leave it late against Libya. For us, we have to make sure that we get a full result and go to Sudan knowing very well that we have qualified.”

A win for South Africa against Ghana will see them book a place in the AFCON next year in Cameroon with 12 points.

South Africa and Ghana are currently levelled up on nine points.