TAIFA Stars coach Salum Mayanga will be looking for a steady flow in his sides game when they entertain Burundi in an international friendly match at the National Stadium in Dar es Salaam today.

Mayangas reign got off to the best possible start after leading Taifa Stars to a 2-0 win over Botswana in his first game in charge last Saturday.

He will be leading his team on the dugout with a motive plus in this fixture, ending a winless run against Burundi and improving their overall performance. Whilst delighted with the winning start, Mayanga warned that there was still a lot of hard work to do before he gets the team where he wants it to be.

Mayanga as he acknowledged, needs enough time to work with his new players as well as this sort of games to build a good chemistry among them.

Its nice to get off to winning start but theres still a work ahead, we need to improve the standard of our overall performance, the Stars new coach said following Saturdays win over The Zebras.

The Stars coach expects Burundi to be a good test for his team. Burundi is a good team with good players, but were prepared for them. Ill use the fixture to get the squad for the CHAN qualifiers, said Mayanga.

Another positive result today would set the right tone to his reign with the AFCON and CHAN qualifiers just a few months away. It is also important for the Stars to win as it will help improve Tanzanias position in FIFA Ranking.

Mayanga will be relying on skipper and key striker Mbwana Samatta, who features for Belgium side KRC Genk, to lead his sides attack as they prepare for the upcoming Afcon 2019 and Chan 2018 qualifiers.

The prolific forward rediscovered his ruthless form in front of goal when he scored two superb goals against Botswana at the weekend.

Tenerife playmaker Farid Musa, who came on as second half substitute last Saturday following his late arrival from Spain, will most likely challenge Shiza Kichuya, Ibrahim Ajib and Simon Msuva for a starting berth.

Burundi will surely be a tough nut to crack. The Intamba Murugamba have won three out of four matches, all friendlies, they have played against the Tanzanian side. The previous two meetings ended in a 2-0 and 3-0 wins to Burundi.

Burundi coach Olivier Niyungeko was in buoyant mood yesterday, saying has a strong team and expects to keep their good record against Tanzania. I know Taifa Stars have excellent players and it will be a really tough match.

We have quality players as well so hopeful well win because last time we beat them 3-0 here, Niyungeko boasted. It will be interesting to see some familiar faces trading tackles with Burundian striker, Laudit Mavugo, who features for Simba set to line-up against club mates Abdi Banda and Mohamed Hussein.

Mavugo predicted a competitive game; There is no easy game, so were looking forward to a really competitive game, I know most of the Stars players and it will be interesting game.

The Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) lined the two friendlies to prepare the Stars for the African Nations Championship (CHAN, meant for home-based players) and African Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifying matches.

Taifa Stars have been drawn against Rwanda in the second round of 2018 CHAN qualifiers for Central and East Geographical Zone in July. The first leg is scheduled to be played between July 14 and 16 in Dar es Salaam with the return leg due to two weeks later in Kigali.

The winner between Tanzania and Rwanda will take on Uganda, which is favorite to go past the winner of the second round tie between Sudan and Somalia. In the AFCON qualifiers, Taifa Stars will compete in Group L alongside Uganda, Cape Verde and Lesotho.