Jean-Louis Gasset : "8 games, 8 finals"

You’re recovering Wahbi Khazri for the trip to Amiens. What are you expecting from him?

I hope that he has realized that he must no longer be given cards for stupid reasons because he is still under suspension. I also hope he understands that we’ll need him at his best in order to finish the season as well as possible. There are eight matches remaining and our best striker is coming back. We’re very happy about that. Without him, we scored 7 goals in two matches. We also have to bring out the best of the entire team.

After the victory against Nîmes (2-1), you indicated that you appreciated the mindset of your players.

Yes because it was a match that was completely opposite to the one against Caen, which was the perfect example of what we must do as an away team. When you don’t have technical control in the middle of the field, you expose your flaws. Letting in a goal after a minute and a half (he rolls his eyes)… That became even harder to bear in that moment. In the first half, we should have scored more goals. But, we suffered, they changed their tactics. We stayed in the same configuration and risked a lot. When speaking of this match, the two goalies were truly very good.

You currently occupy 4th place in Ligue 1 Conforama. Will this ranking lead you to approach the last eight matches differently?

We’re in fourth place as we speak but we may be fifth this evening at 11 PM. There’ll be  back-and-forth rank changes until the end. I don’t really like to look at the calendars of the other clubs, I’m concentrating on ours and the path that remains to be taken. There are 8 matches remaining, 8 finals for 3 points each. And, we’ll play to win.

Will you have at your disposal several young players as was the case these last few weeks?

I will of course take on some because the N2 team is leaving today (Friday) in Bergerac and returns very late in the night. They also still have the objective of winning a few matches to maintain their professional level. This Sunday, the club will also play a semi-final match in the Coupe-Gambardella, a competition that is close to our hearts. But the match against Amiens is the priority. We had to make choices. I hope that they were the wise choices to make in order to win the three matches.

What is your opinion of Amiens?

It seems that this team has found a balance. They defeated Caen, Nice, Nîmes and just conceded a tie game against Bordeaux. They don’t let in many goals. They have a good defensive line and some interesting players in the front. Konaté, Mendoza or Otero always manage to score a goal. They still need two victories to maintain their league status. We know what to expect Saturday evening,