ALBION'S Percy Tau has been pinpointed as a threat to Leon Balogun's Nigeria in the last eight of the Africa Cup of Nations.

Fellow Seagulls Tau and Balogun face each other in the quarter-finals in Egypt tonight (8pm), although Balogun is likely to be on the bench for the Super Eagles.

Tau, meanwhile, will be pivotal to South Africa's hopes of pulling off another upset in Cairo after knocking out the host nation in the last 16.

He scored two of the three goals in qualifying against three-time winners Nigeria, who start as favourites to reach the semi-finals against Ivory Coast or Algeria.

Tau and Thembinkosi Lorch, the late match winner against Egypt, pose a twin threat according to former Super Eagles star Jay-Jay Okocha.

The ex-Bolton and PSG midfielder, a tournament winner with Nigeria in 1994, told Kick Off: "Of course you have to respect the opponent's key players, especially if they are having a good tournament.

"It's obvious that in the Bafana Bafana squad the threat was just Tau, until Lorch was introduced.

"It's like they are sharing the responsibilities going forward now. These are two players that could cause problems for any team and I'm sure we are aware of that."