Eirik Horneland : "It's important to fight in our situation"

Regrets, but a Positive Overall Assessment

"We really wanted those three points at home. We lost focus and discipline right after Nantes opened the scoring, which made things more difficult for us. After that, we faced a very compact defensive block. However, I’m happy because the players never stopped pushing for that goal. We tried to play, to win this match after equalizing, but it wasn’t to be. Over these last three matches, we’ve worked hard, and the overall result is rather positive with four points and a positive goal difference. We need to keep moving in this direction."

A Compact Opponent Block

"It’s always difficult to play at home when you’ve conceded the first goal. It required a lot of effort. The first half was particularly challenging, and we had to do a lot of defensive running. We struggled with timing to find spaces between and behind the lines, as well as player connections. That’s something we really need to work on—it’s one of the hardest aspects of football. But we have good set-piece takers in this team, as we saw with Augustine Boakye. That’s a positive takeaway."

Changes in the Starting XI

"Lamine (Fomba) has been excellent in training. He has strong physical attributes and shows commitment and presence during sessions. I’m very pleased with his performance. As for Djylian (N'Guessan), I have no doubts about his ability to play at this level and in this team. Despite his young age, he has great quality. He should have scored in his situation, but it’s encouraging to see a young player perform with such confidence. Both players earned their place in the starting eleven through their efforts in training."

A Positive Mentality

"Mistakes happen in football; what’s most important is how you respond afterward. We’ve seen that tonight, as well as against Paris and Reims. Of course, the outcome could have been more favorable, but we showed the desire to fight back. The players wanted to play, and they wanted to get back into the game. That’s not an easy thing to do when you’re a team struggling at the lower end of the table. It’s crucial to fight in our situation, and that’s exactly what the team did."