Jean-Louis Gasset : "We are there"

You must be torn between two feelings, the sadness of having lost a player due to an injury and the satisfaction of having secured a prestigious victory.

It’s a curse. All the players that can play right-back suffer very serious injuries. Gabriel will undergo tests but his injury seems to be very serious. I hope that Mathieu Debuchy will be fit to play in Marseille. He stayed at home so as not to take any risks. We look for innovation in every match. The curse is there and persists.

What were the positive points of this evening?

We were solid since we didn’t let in any goals, we had technical domination in the midfield. In the first half, we didn’t fight enough in the last 30 metres before our opponents’ net. In the second half, we had a  bit more conviction. If we had capitalized on the two or three openings that we had… We have 43 points with 12 matches to play before the end of the championship, that’s good. But, Gabriel Silva’s injury is upsetting.

What is your judgement of Youssef Aït Bennasser’s contribution?

He’s a good player. He’s not yet at his peak level of performance. But, I think that Yann M’Vila improves his teammates because he’s easy to find. Players develop their instincts a bit faster with him. Youssef signed his contract January 31st. You don’t develop your instincts in a hotel room. By playing every three days, it’s difficult. There’s still work to be done what he’s doing is positive. I hope that Valentin Vada will come back quickly. For the moment, we can’t make substitutions in the midfield. It is however useful, especially when you want to confirm a positive outcome for a match.

Has the sprint for the European Cup begun?

There are 12 matches remaining. Between 4th and 12th place, the teams stand. We’re going to play two difficult matches, against OM in Marseille and against Lille on our home turf. We have to maintain our rhythm, play some good Football while being efficient in order to earn points. For the moment, with 43 points, we’re there.