Evian Thonon Gaillard vs Marseille preview - Payet plays down row

Posted Saturday, September 13, 2014 by PA

Marseille midfielder Dimitri Payet has insisted the players have not been affected by a row between coach Marcelo Bielsa and president Vincent Labrune.

The two men have been very publicly at odds in recent days after Bielsa suggested he had not run the rule over some of the club's summer signings before they arrived.

However, and he and his team-mates prepared for Sunday's Ligue 1 trip to bottom-of-the-table Evian, Payet was adamant that the boardroom wrangle had not extended to the dressing room.

He told www.francefootball.fr: "That does not concern us. It is between the coach and the president. They are going to meet, lance the boil and it's up to them to sort it out.

"I personally do not feel that it has affected the group."

Marseille head for the Parc des Sports d'Annecy sitting in fourth place in the table after four games, trailing reigning champions Paris St Germain and Lille by a single point and current leaders Bordeaux by three.

An eventful opening day draw at Bastia, which ended 3-3, was followed by a 2-0 home defeat at the hands of Montpellier, but successive victories over Guingamp and Nice - Payet claimed a double in a 4-0 won over the latter - have increased optimism for what lies ahead.

He said: "We have a quality group. There were no considerable departures, there is no Champions League, so we may be a little cooler. We have a group that can finish in the top three."

Marseille's high hopes are in stark contrast to those of their hosts, who have collected just a single point from the 12 they have contested so far, albeit from a creditable 0-0 home draw with PSG.

They finished just four points clear of the drop zone last season and know they will need to improve rapidly if they are to avoid a fight against relegation.

Unlike Bielsa, who has a full squad from which to choose, Evian coach Pascal Dupraz will be without suspended duo Aldo Angoula, who was sent off during the 1-0 defeat at Toulouse last time out, and Youssouf Sabaly.