Montpellier vs Lille OSC preview - Girard focused on Lille challenge
Posted Friday, February 06, 2015 by PA
Lille coach Rene Girard insists sentiment will play no part as he takes his current side to the club where he won the title this weekend.
Girard guided Montpellier to the Ligue 1 crown in 2012 but is now firmly in the Lille camp as he returns to the Stade de la Mosson on Saturday.
"It is always nice to go back," Girard told reporters. "I had four beautiful seasons there - but it stops there. Today I am at Lille."
Girard's immediate task is to pick his side up after their midweek League Cup semi-final loss to Paris Saint-Germain and get them firing for the second half of the season after three league games without a win.
Lille go into the game 13th and just five points above the relegation zone.
Girard said: "We have not been able to string together a good run, which denotes a certain vulnerability. There is a lack of confidence. We must do better on the attack.
"But there are 15 matches left. The aim is simply to finish as strongly as we can. A lot of teams are chasing us but we will continue to fight."
Montpellier go into the game looking upwards from sixth place after an unbeaten run of seven games. They are just four points off fourth place.
Rolland Courbis, whose two spells as coach have come either side of Girard's stint, has been pleased with progress this term after avoiding relegation last season.
Courbis said: "If we could stay in this position, that would bring huge satisfaction and immense pride.
"But it is certain that if we win 13 games of the remaining 15, we will end up passing someone.
"Are we going to be able? I do not know. I do not even know if we will beat Lille."
Montpellier are without midfielder Jonas Martin, who faces six weeks out with a shoulder injury.
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