By Durosimi Thomas BBC Sport, Tunis

Lemerre is under fire as the Nations Cup approaches

Tunisia's French coach Roger Lemerre has played down concerns over the recent poor performances of the 2004 Nations Cup hosts.

The North Africans lost 1-0 to Japan in Tunis last Wednesday and, having drawn 0-0 with Morocco on Saturday, have now failed to score in their last two matches as they prepare for the Nations Cup.

Lemerre has been severely criticised following these performances by both the media and the fans, with the latter booing the Tunisian team off the pitch after the matches against Morocco and the Japanese.

Yet the Frenchman is not unduly worried.

"We may have weak points but these are not issues to cause panic," Lemerre told the BBC Sport website.

"Tunisia have been able to contain our difficulties and we also exploit our strong points to the fullest."

The onetime manager of France admitted Tunisia's narrow loss against Japan lay in the loss of form of certain players, yet he said he was happy with his team's performance in the goalless draw with Morocco.

"We were close to winning the game and we played better than the previous match against Japan," Lemerre explained.

Friendlies against Italy and South Africa in November will give Lemerre, who has lost only one of ten games as Tunisia coach, the chance to silence his critics as next year's Nations Cup looms.