Saint-Etienne vs Bastia preview - Galtier keeping focus

St Etienne coach Christophe Galtier is only concerned with the upcoming game against Bastia and is not concentrating on overall league position.

An impressive 2-0 win at Montpellier last weekend has kept Galtier's side in touch with the top three in Ligue 1 and a victory at home to bottom club Bastia could see St Etienne move above Lyon.

But Galtier, who led the Greens to a fourth-placed finish last season, is not looking at the table and is only worried about what his side can do in the coming weeks.

"We are not obsessed with finishing on the podium," he said in his pre-match press conference.

"It is not our goal. What matters to me is the result against Bastia. We must not let ourselves be carried away. We must continue to put the same intensity in our games.

"The danger is to believe that this will be easy. Bastia are certainly in a difficult situation and needs points but this team will do everything to antagonise us and they will be a tough opponent."

St Etienne remain in with a chance of Europa League progression and face a tough test in Dnipro next week, with fixture congestion testing Galtier's squad.

"We are in the middle of our series of close matches," the 48-year-old said.

"This can generate a lot of questions about our physical and mental fitness. We have to sweep these possible doubts away by applying the determination and energy to reach our goals."

Ghislain Printant replaced Claude Makelele as Bastia coach at the end of November but has yet to pick up any points from his opening two games in charge.

The former Bastia reserve team boss has been placed in charge until the end of the season and is looking for some positive results to keep the club in the battle for Ligue 1 survival heading into the winter break.

"For once we have looked at the schedule and have set ourselves goals," he said.

"We have to make sure we take maximum points before the break because, starting in January, it will be a new league."