LIVE: Algeria v Kenya | AFCON 2019 | Egypt

Riyad Mahrez will captain Algeria in its Africa Cup of Nations campaign, which starts against Kenya tonight.

Mahrez is happy to be a leader for Algeria, but insists team unity will be crucial if Djamel Belmadi’s side is to impress in the Africa Cup of Nations.

Algeria – AFCON winner in 1990 – starts its campaign against Kenya on Sunday and will also face Senegal and Tanzania in Group C. Mahrez captains the squad, which also includes Porto’s Yacine Brahimi and Fenerbahce striker Islam Slimani.

And though Mahrez is proud to shoulder the responsibility of leading Algeria in the competition, the 28-year-old – who was awarded the African Footballer of the Year award in 2016 – believes team spirit, and not individual quality, will be key to success.

“It is a responsibility that I am proud to assume,” Manchester City forward Mahrez said when asked about the captaincy. “You have to be a leader on and off the pitch.”

“But we don’t go into the game worrying about who is a great player or who has won the African Footballer of the Year award.

“I’m part of a collective, the most important thing is the team.”

This will be the first encounter between Algeria and Kenya at the AFCON, and Mahrez acknowledged the opponents present something of an unknown quantity.

“We do not know much about Kenya. We didn’t face them before,” Mahrez added.

“But we watched their matches and we played against similar teams during friendly games and we will give everything to win the match.”

Harambee Stars defender Joash Onyango has been ruled out of Sunday’s 2019 Africa Cup of Nations clash against Algeria.

The 26-year-old, who recently trended on social media after dying his beard, was in line to start alongside Musa Mohammed in central defence.