Caen vs Lorient preview - Garande targets Caen victory

Caen boss Patrice Garande has urged his players to build on their draw against Bordeaux by dispatching fellow Ligue 1 strugglers Lorient.

A late strike from Herve Bazile salvaged a point against high-flying Bordeaux, but Caen remain in the bottom three, just one point away from safety.

Garande knows victory over Lorient could be crucial as the club digs in for a season of scrapping for survival.

"Drawing with Bordeaux was a good result. The team did exactly what I wanted them to do. We had fun but we did not take all the points," Garande said.

"Bordeaux seemed unsettled to me and that was good for us. That game showed the progress we have made.

"Now we have to win against Lorient to get into a much more comfortable position in the table. We are prepared for a relegation battle this season."

Lorient sit one point clear of the relegation zone and having beaten Bastia 2-0 on October 4, coach Sylvain Ripoll fears ground has been lost with last weekend's 1-0 home defeat by Saint-Etienne.

"We're aware that there was a huge difference between us and Saint-Etienne," Ripoll said.

"We weren't able to do anything with the ball. We were also deficient in defence where we never looked secure.

"It's a worrying defeat, but Saint-Etienne aren't in the same ballpark as us.

"We had given ourselves a little bit of breathing space at Bastia, but Saint-Etienne swept all of that away."