Eirik Horneland: ‘We need to see a reaction'

Update on the infirmary

The only player absent from training today was Yvann Maçon, but this is just a precautionary measure to lighten his workload. Dennis Appiah and Pierre Cornud returned to training yesterday and are fit. Ben Old is working hard to make a speedy comeback, and he returned to the ball in part on Thursday. We hope to be able to count on him in 3 or 4 weeks' time.

Passive against Nice

Losing by that score generates a feeling of revenge. 8-0 is hard to swallow. It hurts the whole club, the players and the supporters. We have to show that we're much better than that. We need to see a reaction to the first leg and to our position in the standings. We need to be in a winning and fighting mood. It's important to bounce back and show a reaction to the context.

This weekend's opponents

Nice are a really good team, more comfortable at home than away. They're fighting for a place in Europe, and that's a big challenge for us, of course. But we're a team capable of performing well at home, so we need to focus on ourselves. To keep up with this team, we'll have to be at our best.

The race to stay up

Every match, every ball, is very important for our future. There are eleven matches left to play. It's a race with Montpellier and Le Havre of course, and we're hoping for other teams. Everyone has to understand that it's a daily battle to become better and improve our situation. I think everyone is aware of where we are. The state of mind is very important if we are to emerge victorious from this battle for survival. (...) We have to accept our status as a team fighting to stay in L1 at the bottom of the table. All the teams in our position are fighting, which explains why we often react. But we're trying to put up with it less.

Benjamin Bouchouari

He started very well when I arrived at the club. Then he was ill, which slowed him down a bit. Now he's back to where he was at the start and I'm expecting a lot from him. He has technical qualities and a profile that we can develop further. I think he can be more decisive by going forward more, as we saw against Angers when he hit the bar. This is his first season in L1 and he's still a young player who's doing a lot of good things, but I think he can still contribute a lot!