Saint-Etienne vs Monaco preview - Jardim demands return to hard work

Monaco coach Leonardo Jardim has warned that his side have no magic remedy for their indifferent form as they face a tough trip to St Etienne.

Last season's runners-up are 10 points off the pace set by Marseille, and make the trip to St Etienne three points and two places behind fifth-placed ASSE.

A 1-0 defeat to Benfica in the Champions League added to Jardim's woes and he admitted he had no quick fix with his side yet to find a way to plug the gaps left by departures in the summer.

"It was a tough match against Benfica," he said on the club's website. "The difference was efficiency. This is our current problem.

"The team needs to work to be more effective. We cannot perform miracles."

Dimitar Berbatov will once again be missing, while Yannick Ferreira-Carrasco suffered an ankle problem in training and is rated as doubtful.

While Jardim's worries grow, opposite number Christophe Galtier saw his side take a creditable 1-1 draw against Inter Milan in the Europa League on Thursday night.

"This brings us experience and confidence," Galtier said after the match. "We did not beat Inter but we were not beaten. With a draw, everyone wondered what we had been eating before the match."

However, the point came at a cost with young winger Allan Saint-Maximin set for an extended spell on the sidelines. The 17-year-old suffered a small crack of a vertebrae and is unlikely to feature before December.

He joins Renaud Cohade (elbow) and Benjamin Corgnet (thigh) on the sidelines.