Stade Malien are through to the group stages of the 2015 CAF Confederation Cup despite a 3-2 defeat to AS Vita at the  Stade Raphaël Tata Stadium on Sunday.

Malien join Esperance in Group A with a 4-3 aggregate win.

The Mali side won the home-leg 2-0 thanks to goals from Boubacar Bangoura and Mandala Konté and looked sure to progress at half-time in the return-leg with the teams deadlocked at 1-1.

READ: Malien too strong for Vita

Moctar Cissé completed his brace to hand 'Les Blancs' a 2-1 lead soon after the break.

Vita, though, would find the equaliser and take the lead from the spot - Issoufou Dayo making no mistake from 12 yards.

The Black Dolphins pressed forward in an attempt to find the two goals they needed to progress, but Malien held on for an impressive scalp.

READ: 2015 CAF Confederation Cup

AS Vita Club are determined to overturn a two-goal deficit when they host Stade Malien in Kinshasa on Sunday, in the return leg of their Confederation Cup playoff clash.

Unanswered goals from Boubacar Bangoura and Mandala Konté either side of half-time in Bamako in the first leg handed the Malian outfit a crucial advantage ahead of their trip to the DR Congo capital.

READ: Stade Malien too strong for Vita

“We had to win, and we did it with a two-goal advantage which was crucial against a side we feared. My team showed quality and the most important was to keep a clean sheet,” Stade Malien head coach Kamel Djabour commented.

“Now, we need to seal the qualification on Congolese soil.”

However, AS Vita boss Florent Ibenge is adamant his side can turn the table in front of their fans to extend their continental journey.

“We have time to recover and have only one objective: to qualify despite our handicap,” Ibenge stated.

“We are working hard to prepare for the match. To be 100 percent physically, we are doing two training sessions. We need to generate a lot of rhythm against Stade Malien.”

The game will kick off at Stade Raphaël Tata at 16h30 CAT on Sunday 7 June.