Loïc Perrin : "An end to an exciting season"

In what state of mind are you the day before a possibly decisive match for a qualification for the Europa League?

It’s one of the most exciting seasons that I’ve played. Being fourth and being able to hope to do even better, it’s exciting. We know that we’re not scheduled to play for the top three places, so we’re taking everything that comes as a bonus. At the moment, we have a good undefeated streak going. We’ve taken 19 points over the course of 7 matches. We have success and we also know how to acquire it. We have the chance to play in a Cauldron that will be boiling. We have everything to win, we don’t argue and the coach is there to remind us that we can’t get caught up in the euphoria. Our objective is to secure fourth place, even if, we’re likely thinking about third place.

What should the Verts be wary of?

Football is full of surprises, everyone can crack under the pressure, we saw it in the Champions League. Of course, I hope that won’t be the case for us. For us, the goal is to continue the undefeated streak that we started in Caen where we dominated the match from start to finish. Then, we had a few less successful matches like in Amiens, but we’ve always taken points that count today. If we keep our state of mind and maintain our success, there’s no reason for the season to finish poorly.

How do you explain ASSE’s current, excellent ranking?

It’s the most complete and the most experienced team that I’ve ever played with. Many players have been in great clubs and have experience. They inspire confidence especially among the youths and that helps them to perform better because even if there were some more complicated moments, we’ve always been between 4th and 6th place. What matters in a season is being as consistent as possible.

What is your goal in regards of the team?

The experience makes me one of those players that have a role to play at the centre of the team but I’m not the only one. Mathieu Debuchy, Neven Subotic and Yann M’Vila also have this role. We all work together towards the same end.

What do you say to the euphoric fans who are speaking to you about the Champions League?

I’m happy that the fans believe in it and I hope like them that we’ll play this competition but we’re not the masters of our own destiny. If Lyon wins all its matches, we’ll finish behind them in the rankings. Whether it’s Lyon or another team, it’s exciting to be able to fight for third place. Being one point behind Lyon, that simply means that we’ve had a great season.