Stade Reims vs Lorient preview - Sweet Reims the target of Vasseur

Reims coach Jean-Luc Vasseur has urged his players to put a woeful January behind them by learning from the experience.

The club went into the winter break on the back of two successive victories but on their return they picked up just one point from four matches, which has seen them slip to 12th in the Ligue 1 table.

"We thought that Caen was an accident (losing 4-1) but Toulouse (a 1-0 defeat last weekend) was a complete meltdown," he told a press conference.

"We will soon bury January while drawing lessons from it.

"We do not try to forget what just happened, quite the opposite, and begin February feeling better because that is not enough and it does not suit us.

"After a difficult time like this we have to get out of this and it is not necessarily easy. We must quickly get up to speed on the next game."

That is at home to struggling Lorient, just one point above the relegation zone, who have taken four points from their last five matches.

New signing Romain Philippoteaux goes straight into the squad after his move from Dijon.

"He's fresh and enthusiastic and he can score. This is a player profile that we did not have," said coach Sylvain Ripoll.