Bordeaux vs Nice preview - Sagnol wants to bolster midfield

Bordeaux coach Willy Sagnol admits he urgently needs to bring in new midfield players to prop up his struggling team.

With a squad depleted by injuries and African Nations Cup call-ups, Sagnol wishes he could have more options at his disposal heading into Friday night's Ligue 1 clash with Nice.

Asked if the transfer window was progressing as he wished, Sagnol said: "As I say very often, you have to see with the president. I make my wishes."

Sagnol has clear priorities.

"Yes, in midfield, we know that," he said. "We have difficulties which are not qualitative but quantitative. We are in great difficulty."

Sagnol does not know what to make of Nice, who beat Lorient last week to climb to 12th place in the French top division.

His Bordeaux side sit sixth.

When it was suggested to Sagnol that Nice are a difficult side to judge, he said, according to club website girondins.com: "That's normal because they are a very young team.

"As ever this type of side can do great things but also lack experience and maturity. However their coach (Claude Puel) has a lot of maturity. We can be sure that he'll present a difficult team to overcome on Friday evening."

Nice have so far been frustrated in their efforts to field former France international Hatem Ben Arfa, with a thick band of red tape blocking their way that may leave the winger sidelined for the rest of the season.

It appeared Ben Arfa was clear to play for Nice, after cutting his ties with Newcastle. He had spent much of the first half of the season on loan at Hull, but a single appearance for Newcastle's under-21 team has caused a major problem.

Rules dictate that a player cannot appear for three teams in the same season, so barring a challenge to FIFA's authority on the issue, which could be made next week, after French league chiefs sift through Ben Arfa's paperwork, the wily 27-year-old is in limbo.

Puel has promoted teenage striker Sada Thioub to his squad for the trip to Bordeaux.